Armchair with shield-shaped back, of beech, varnished and decorated in polychrome with the Prince of Wales's feathers and garlands; the upholstered seat is modern.

Armchair with shield-shaped back, of beech, painted brown (presumably to imitate satinwood) and decorated in polychrome; the upholstered seat iscovered in modern striped silk, with two lines of brass nailing, and is lined under with black cotton. The tapering legs are of square section, the shield-shaped back, with a rounded base, has a tripartite, pierced splat painted with the Prince of Wales's feathers and garlands. The arms, which curve down from the top of the back uprights, are square-sectioned and are supported on similarly shaped concave arm supports that rise from directly above the front legs.

In George Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-maker's and Upholsterer's Guide (3rd ed., 1794) he writes in the introduction:
'For chairs, a new and very elegant fashion has arisen within these few years, of finishing them with painted or japanned work, which gives a rich and splendid appearance to the minutest parts or the ornaments, which are generally thrown in by the painter. Several of these designs are particularly adapted to this style, which allows a frame-work less massy that is requisite for mahogany; and by assorting the prevailing colour to the furniture and light of the room, affords opportunity, by the variety of grounds which may be introduced, to make the whole in harmony, with a pleasing and striking effect to the eye. Japanned chairs should have cane bottoms with linen or cotton cases over cushions to accord with the general hue of the chair'.

This chair is of exactly the form suggested by Hepplewhite. It is possible that the holes for a caned seat could be found if the upholstery were removed. The paint on this chair is very worn. The design incorporating the Prince of Wales feathers had been popular since at least the 1780s.

Museum negative 74591 shows this on display in Gallery 40 in 1936 as part of a display of Georgian furniture.

Chairs with shield-shaped backs had been fashionable since the 1780s, as had the ornamental device of the Prince of Wales's feathers. This chair, however, uses a painted finish which only became widely fashionable in the 1790s. George Hepplewhite, in his Cabinet-Maker's and Upholsterer's Guide (3rd ed., 1794) comments on the lightness that this new fashion gave to chairs. Painted chair continued to be popular for many years, new styles evolving throughout the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

W.90-1911