Armchair
ca. 1780-1800 (joinery), ca. 1754-70 (weaving)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This armchair is part of a set of four armchairs and a settee that were made in France between 1780 and 1800. The design of the frames was a very popular one and was made by a number of menuisiers, as the makers of carved furniture were called. Some made highly carved versions, but these are simply moulded. The tapestry covers were made some years earlier, for the kind of larger chairs that were fashionable in the 1750s and 1760s. They were only put on to these frames in the nineteenth century, when such tapestries became highly fashionable amongst antique collectors. The back panels are woven with Chinoiseries, figures in Chinese-style dress in fanciful settings, while the seats are woven with scenes of animals from La Fontaine's 'Fables'.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Turned, and carved beech, joined by mortise-and-tenon construction, water gilded (more than once), upholstered with stitched edges and covered with Aubusson tapestry of silk and wool (not original to the chairs), outlined with brass nailing |
| Brief description | Armchair with frame of moulded and gilded beechwood, ca. 1780-1800, upholstered in Aubusson tapestry, ca. 1754-1770, the back with a Chinese woman playing a triangle, the seat with the fable of the Wolf and the Crane |
| Physical description | Armchair of water gilded turned and carved beech joined by mortise-and-tenon construction. Upholstered with stitched edges and covered with Aubusson tapestry of silk and wool not original to the chairs outlined with brass nailings, the back with a Chinese woman playing a triangle, the seat with the fable of the Wolf and the Crane. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Credit line | Given by P.W. Mallet |
| Object history | By repute the property in the 19th century of Lord Chief Justice Cockburn (1802-1880) and purchased by Mr Travers Smith; by descent to Miss A.V. Mallet and thence to P.W. Mallet (d. 1945), by whom donated to the Museum in 1941. Previously on loan to Abbot Hall, Kendal. |
| Production | This armchair (and the rest of the set, W.11-1941 to W.15-1941) were believed to date from the late-19th century when they were acquired, although the Aubusson tapestry covers were recognized as dating from the middle of the 18th century. More recently (2009) we have come to think that they do in fact date from ca. 1780-1800, very simple versions of a pattern produced by a number of different Parisian menuisiers or makers of carved furniture. The covers were probably added to the set in the second half of the 19th century. |
| Literary reference | Fable of the Wolf and the Crane as subject of the seat panel |
| Summary | This armchair is part of a set of four armchairs and a settee that were made in France between 1780 and 1800. The design of the frames was a very popular one and was made by a number of menuisiers, as the makers of carved furniture were called. Some made highly carved versions, but these are simply moulded. The tapestry covers were made some years earlier, for the kind of larger chairs that were fashionable in the 1750s and 1760s. They were only put on to these frames in the nineteenth century, when such tapestries became highly fashionable amongst antique collectors. The back panels are woven with Chinoiseries, figures in Chinese-style dress in fanciful settings, while the seats are woven with scenes of animals from La Fontaine's 'Fables'. |
| Associated objects | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.11-1941 |
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| Record created | December 1, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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