Settee thumbnail 1
Settee thumbnail 2
+1
images
Not currently on display at the V&A

Settee

ca. 1750-1775 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a characteristic example of the Chinoiserie style, popular in England in the mid 18th century. The style has come to be associated with the cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, but was adopted by many other workshops in the 18th century. Chinoiserie also became a very popular element of the 19th-century Chippendale Revival, and many surviving chairs and settees of this type were actually made between about 1850 and 1900. The construction of this example suggests that it was probably made in the 1760s, although its the carving is not of the highest quality.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Mahogany carved in the solid with pierced and blind fretwork
Brief description
Carved mahogany settee in Chinese taste with modern upholstery.
Physical description
A Chinoiserie two-chair-back settee of carved mahogany, with open arms and upholstered seat raised on six square legs. The raked back is composed of two chair-backs, each filled with one wide and two narrow panels of open fretwork, framed by slightly splayed back stiles and a top rail carved with blind fret and a pierced pagoda cresting, and linked by a further fretwork panel in the centre; each of the three main panels is supported on a spreading fluted plinth. The swept arms, bowed out at the back and concave in the front supports, and filled with further open fretwork, join the seat rails behind the front legs. The rectangular seat, with canted sides, is raised on six square straight legs. The back legs are completely upright, not raked, and chamfered on their inside corners and carved on their show sides with blind fretwork which does not extend above the seat on the sides of the back stiles. The angles between the front and side rails and the legs are filled with eight pierced C-scroll brackets. The legs are joined to each other by pierced stretchers, three short front-to-back stretchers, joined behind the front legs about a third of the distance from the front to the back, by a single full-width stretcher; and two stretchers joining the three back legs. The back stretchers are pierced with a simpler design than the other four.

The blind fretwork on the legs is carved in the solid, not applied.

The seat is now stuffed over, but may originally have exposed carved rails, since these appear to be mahogany; and at the top of the front legs a shallow step can be felt, suggesting that some carving may have been cut (planed?) away here.

The seat rails are tenoned (presumably) to the outer front legs and back stiles, and have keys near the ends for open braces, which are now replaced by ogee-shaped corner blocks screwed in place. The two centre legs appear to be tenoned to the front and back legs respectively. The seat frame is now reinforced by three cross-braces: one in the middle, top-level with the rails, which twists ease, so is presumably not tenoned in place (it may be held just by glue and a pin or two); and either side of this, two cross-braces screwed to the underside of the rails; these are tapered at the front, so as not to be visible from a normal viewing height.
The two outer cross-stretchers and the two back stretchers are joined to the legs by bare-faced tenons; while the middle cross-stretcher is joined to the centre legs, and the middle long stretcher to the outer stretchers, by fully cut tenons. The middle cross stretcher and middle long stretcher are joined to eachother, probably half-lapped. A batten has been screwed to the underside of the long stretcher at this crossing. At each end of the back stretchers there is a separate piece between the straight top and bottom elements, in which the loped end-shape is cut; this may simply be glued in place, or may be tenoned in with the top and bottom parts. Either way, it suggests a mistake in the course of construction: possibly the maker originally cut these too long, with lobed cut-outs as wide as the one in the middle of each stretcher, and had to correct this with these infill pieces. Each middle cut-out appears to be wider; However, the same infill piece is found also at the back end of the right stretcher.
The C-scroll brackets are much repaired. They are made in the solid (except some repairs, which are laminated), and are now variously screwed and pinned to the legs and rails; would need more extensive examination to determine what was the original mode of fixing. It is uncertain if they are original to the settee.
The legs have brass castors with hollow-sided wheels and anti-friction rollers; the fixing plates are circular, ill-suited to the shape of the legs -- though perhaps designed to fit their canted corners.

The arm-rests are joined invisibly to the back stiles, but respond at this joint to a metal detector, so there could be a concealed pin.

Modern upholstery with c. 1950s(?) plain-weave jute webbing and base cloth. When acquired the seat cover was a modern blue Chinese silk.
Dimensions
  • Height: 98.3cm
  • Maximum (at front of arm rests) width: 150.5cm
  • Seat width width: 144cm
  • Maximum depth: 63.8cm
  • Depth at feet depth: 55.5cm
Style
Gallery label
Settee English; about 1760. Mahogany. Bequesthed by Mr Claude Rotch.
Credit line
Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch
Object history
Claude Rotch bequest.
The settee was exhibited at Burlington House in 1955/6 in 'English Taste in the 18th century' No. 240 ill. pl 9.

The settee was once owned by the collector, Sir Sidney Greville (1866 – 1927), Ambassador’s Court of St James’ Palace, London as recorded in a County Life article of 1912.
Summary
This is a characteristic example of the Chinoiserie style, popular in England in the mid 18th century. The style has come to be associated with the cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, but was adopted by many other workshops in the 18th century. Chinoiserie also became a very popular element of the 19th-century Chippendale Revival, and many surviving chairs and settees of this type were actually made between about 1850 and 1900. The construction of this example suggests that it was probably made in the 1760s, although its the carving is not of the highest quality.
Bibliographic references
  • 'A review of the Claude Rotch Bequest', by Frank Davis, The Illustrated London News, 22 December 1962.
  • Furniture of the XVII. & XVIII Centuries, The Hon. Sidney Greville’s Collection, Country Life, 12th March 1912, pp. 329-330.
Collection
Accession number
W.66-1962

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdNovember 22, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest