Chair, carved walnut, the seat upholstered in embossed velvet, ca. 1830-50 in late 17th-century style

Carved, stained and varnished walnut, with beech seat rails, the upholstered seat covered in stamped red velvet.
The entire frame is made of walnut with the exception of the seat rails, which are beech. Waney wood has been used for the left seat rail. The chair has full-height back stiles, to which the bottom and top rails are joined by bare-faced tenons. The splat is tenoned to the bottom and top rails, probably also by bare-faced tenons. The back and front stretchers are tenoned, the two side stretchers are tenoned and pegged to the stiles. The beech seat rails are tenoned into the back stiles and front legs.
The object is stained (the stain appears to be in the varnish), and crackling is now evident on much of the varnished surface. Visible saw marks run horizontally across the back of the splat. The chair has a very good example of red stamped velvet upholstery, attached to the rails with brass space nailing. These appear to be low quality nails, some of which may have been replaced at a later date. The upholstery is in good condition, with what appears to be early jute webbing. Extensive repairs are evident. There are iron collars on the two back legs just beneath the seat (the back left has dropped), and iron straps screwed onto the back stretcher where they meet the stiles. The back right foot has been screwed into the right stretcher, suggesting that the joint may have failed at some point.

This type of elaborately carved chair has in the past been dated around 1700, and described as in the style of Daniel Marot. No clearly documented examples are known, however (though some of less elaboration seem more likely to be 18th-century). This example appears to have all its original upholstery, as there are no signs of fixings for earlier materials. This comprises an embossed velvet that is clearly 19th-century, and a chevron webbing that looks late 18th-century at the earliest. If the webbing warp is made of jute (this needs to be tested), then the chair cannot have been made earlier than about 1840.

The chair relates more closely to Dutch than English prototypes (for instance in the placing of the carved upright front stretcher between the side stretchers rather than between the front legs), so on balance is more likely to be Dutch than English.

When this chair was acquired in 1936 it was believed to have been made in about 1700 and to be inspired by the designs of the architect and designer Daniel Marot (1661–1752). Marot worked periodically at the court of William and Mary in London, after they came to the British throne in 1688, but he was mainly active in the Netherlands. There he produced numerous designs for furniture, interiors and even gardens, from the late 1690s onwards. However, none of his designs for chairs match this one in its elaborate outline and carving. It now seems likely that most chairs of this type were made during the second quarter of the 19th century, when the Baroque style of the late 17th century became fashionable again. This chair is upholstered with a 19th-century embossed velvet, which appears to be original as there is no trace of any earlier upholstery.

W.40-1936