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Armchair

1690-1710 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (maker)
Place of origin
Portugal (made)

The seat and back formed of leather embossed and incised in arabesque pattern, among which is a shield of arms beneath a coronet; the framing decorated with large gilt-headed nails.

All uprights are turned; the front legs are knob turned; the front and back stretchers are baluster and reel turned; the side stretchers are ball and reel turned. The hollowed seat allows for a cushion. The cresting consists of three ball and reel turned finials. The foot rest is decorated with chip carving.


Object details

Category
Furniture
Object type
Armchair
Materials and techniques
Chestnut wood, embossed leather
Chestnut
Leather
Carving
Carving
Brief description
Armchair in chestnut and leather. Portuguese, 1690-1710.
Physical description
The seat and back formed of leather embossed and incised in arabesque pattern, among which is a shield of arms beneath a coronet; the framing decorated with large gilt-headed nails.

All uprights are turned; the front legs are knob turned; the front and back stretchers are baluster and reel turned; the side stretchers are ball and reel turned. The hollowed seat allows for a cushion. The cresting consists of three ball and reel turned finials. The foot rest is decorated with chip carving.
Dimensions
  • Height: 132.5cm
  • Width: 61cm
  • Depth: 71cm
  • Of seat height: 49cm
Dimensions (except seat height) checked November 2010
Object history
Bought for £4 each (bought together with 487-1865) from Sen. Blumberg, Lisbon
On loan to the National Trust at Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk from 1955-2019
Bibliographic references
  • John Hungerford Pollen, Ancient & Modern Furniture & Woodwork (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1874), 115-16. “786. ’65. CHAIR. Walnut wood. An arm-chair, the seat and back formed of leather embossed and incised in arabesque pattern, among which is a shield of arms beneath a coronet ; the framing decorated with large gilt-headed nails. Portuguese. Latter part of the 17th century. H. 4 ft. 5 in., W. 2 ft. Bought, 4l. This and the five following numbers [787. to 791. ’65.] are leather chairs, peculiarly characteristic of old Portuguese work. The chairs consist of simple frames with turned legs and high backs. The tops of the backs have an arched centre, leaving the two angles square. On these are mounted finials or knobs of brass, consisting of broad flat collars round a centre. They have been cast and then finished in the lathe. The woodwork on the top slopes backwards, so as to show a broad slanting edge. On this the leather is fastened with broad round-headed nails, an inch in diameter. What gives to the chair a character which is so peculiarly national is the quality of the leather employed in its construction. It is admirably prepared and solid as a board. Though the date of the chairs is as old certainly as 1680, the leather shows no sign of bagging or stretching in any way. The back and the seat have no support in the way of webbing or cross bars. The leather acts as back and seat. It is sufficiently elastic to be comfortable, though hard and too stiff to go into holes. The whole of these surfaces are covered with arabesques very freely drawn, and in the best cinquecento Italian design. We notice the imperial double-head crowned eagle on some of the chairs. The others bear an achievement of two coats impaled. 1st. Three lion’s heads couped. 2nd. Three vine leaves. The work has been stamped with sharp dies on the leather while softened by boiling, and the lines are as clear and distinct as chased lines on bronze, latten, or other metals or moderate hardness. The skins are of admirable quality, and could not be produced in this country. Other Portuguese furniture will be found in the Museum collection amongst the cabinets and tables. They are mostly of Indian wood, teak, rosewood, or ebony, with ivory and black inlay, in small oriental designs, and pierced brass or gilt metal mountings. These belong to distinct schools of manufacture, and we have yet to look for renaissance furniture of bolder design and more in alliance with the rich arabesque work here displayed to give us a complete idea of the designs of a country so prosperous and wealthy as Portugal at the date of these leather manufactures.”
  • South Kensington Museum, John Charles Robinson, J. C Robinson, and R. Clay, Sons and Taylor. 1881. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, p.128
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
786-1865

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Record createdJanuary 13, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O120518/armchair-unknown/
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