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John F. Kennedy's Rocking Chair from The Carlyle

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:50,000.00 - 70,000.00 USD
John F. Kennedy's Rocking Chair from The Carlyle

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Auction Date:2018 Nov 07 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
John F. Kennedy's spindle-style rocking chair from his suite at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City, measuring approximately 43.5? x 26? x 20?, featuring a dark mahogany-stained oak wood frame with a woven natural cane seat and back. This was one of two rockers kept in his personal suite at the Carlyle, which he frequented so often that it became known as the 'New York White House' during his presidency. After Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the Carlyle's resident manager, Samuel Toojay, commissioned a hotel furniture liquidator to dispose of the suite's contents. An admirer of the late president, the liquidator accepted the two rockers as part of his sales commission: they became the centerpieces of a 'Kennedy shrine' in his home. In very good condition, with several minor repairs and touch-ups (the cane seat having been repaired, and chips to the oak frame touched up with new stain) as well as some damage to the cane at the head of the chair. Provenance: Lot #110, Documents and Artifacts Relating to the Life and Career of John F. Kennedy, Guernsey’s, March 18–19, 1998.

President Kennedy became famous for his rocking chair, which he used to alleviate his chronic back pain after a recommendation from his personal doctor Janet G. Travell. He is known to have owned about fourteen similar chairs, which he put anywhere he frequented—in the Oval Office, White House residence, his getaways in Hyannis Port and Palm Beach, his suite at the Carlyle, and even aboard Air Force One. The Carlyle became the site of frequent meetings with friends and dignitaries alike, his visitors ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Secretary of State Dean Rusk. With numerous famous images showing JFK in his rocking chair, it has become one of the enduring symbols of his presidency.