Chair
1830-1855 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Walnut chair carved with scrolls and foliage. Two caned panels to the back. Seat upholstered in maroon wool velvet with matching braid and gilt-headed nails.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved walnut with caned back and upholstered seat |
| Brief description | Chair of carved walnut with caned back; originally thought to be English, 17th century; probably Dutch, 1830-1855 |
| Physical description | Walnut chair carved with scrolls and foliage. Two caned panels to the back. Seat upholstered in maroon wool velvet with matching braid and gilt-headed nails. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | This chair was acquired in 1858 as an example of a late seventeenth century English caned chair with upholstered seat. Its small size and the fussiness of the carving, however, make this attribution seem improbable. The chair is much more likely to have been almost new when acquired and made somewhere in northern Europe, perhaps the Netherlands. Consequently, it seems probable that the well-preserved upholstery is original. Bought for £6 Lent to Tamworth 1967 RF 67/1658 |
| Bibliographic reference | London, South Kensington Museum: Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, described with an introduction by John Hungerford Pollen (London, 1874), p.95
“Chair. Walnut wood. Carved with scrolls and foliage. Two panels of cane work in the back. German. 17th century. H. 3 ft. 6 in. Bought, 6l.
The top of the back, which is the most ornamental feature, projects on each side, so as to occupy more space than the rest of the chair. The centre meets in an informal scroll pediment interrupted like the pediments so common in French architecture and large cabinet work in the 16th and 17th centuries, and which became popular in the renaissance art of England during the reigns of Anne and of the Georges that succeeded. The back, below this showy top, forms two sober narrow panels of cane work. The legs and frame pieces generally are moulded, but they show no carvings. The four legs are united as those of the last number. The chair is a specimen of the good work executed in Germany during the Louis XIV and Louis XV period.” |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 4882-1858 |
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| Record created | May 26, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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