John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s personally-used antique French mahogany child’s high chair/chamber pot from the second half of the 19th century, used by JFK Jr. while in residence at the White House. The impressive child's seat features a tub-shaped backrest with red velvet upholstery, straight arms, a basket footrest with heart-shaped cutouts, sliding tray with locking latches, ceramic pot under the removable red velvet seat pad, and molded cabriole legs. The piece measures 23″ x 38.5″ x 26″, and has been professionally restored to fine condition. An ardent Francophile, Jacqueline Kennedy had a famously keen eye for style and one of her primary goals as first lady was to the redecoration and preservation of the White House as a historic property. Aided by interior designer Stéphane Boudin, she had antique French furniture placed in the Blue Room, the Red Room, and elsewhere in the residence—this child's high chair would have fit right in.
Provenance: Lot 33, Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sotheby’s, New York, April 23, 1996. Originally purchased for $85,000 by Tom Begel amidst the elite auction's frenzied bidding, this chair was later included with sale of his family's two-bedroom oceanfront condo in Palm Beach. Begel was quoted in People Magazine's article 'Camelot by the Lot,' covering the auction: 'There was nobody like the Kennedys,' said Tom Begel, chairman of Johnstown America, a Fortune 500 railroad-freight-car company, who paid $85,000 for John Kennedy Jr.’s 19th-century high chair. 'If this were Bess Truman’s stuff being auctioned off, you wouldn’t get nearly the excitement.'
