oak, carved, with original upholstery of plush and tassels, designed by Ferdinand Rothbart and made by Hoffmeister and Behrens for the 1851 Exhibition, German, Coburg, 1850-1

A set of four chairs in Gothic Revival style, similar but not identical, the frames in carved oak, the upholstery in dark red plush with chenille fringing. The chairs are part of a set with the sideboard W.11-1967. Each chair is raised on four square-sectioned legs, carved with gothic arches. The seats are deeply sprung and fully covered with dark red plush, edged with gimp around the front arm supports and edged with brass nailing and with a deep fringe of chenille hangers on the front and sides. The arms are carved as a single panel with a mythical beast apparently crouching, a single foot set just above the front leg and the head forming the hand rest of the arm, the wings of each beast running back to form the panel below the arm, reaching fully to the back stile of the chair. The beasts are different on each chair. The top of each arm is set with a long, upholstered arm-rest in red plush, edged on the inner and outer side with the same nailing and fringe as on the seat. The back of each chair is framed in carved oak around a shaped panel upholstered in red plush and outlined with brass nailing. The frame of each is carved differently on the front face with a running moulding of leaves and other motifs, the lower spandrels filled with additional scrolling, the upper edge of the frame shaped in a stepped, arched form. Outside the framing on either side are set turned columns with spiral decoration, each supporting the seated figure of an angel holding a shield, these set to look towards the sides of the chair. The angels sit beneath octagonal niches topped with crocketed spires, forming the outermost element of the deep cresting panels, which is carved and pierced with scrolling foliage to either side of the centre, which is set with a heraldic shield against scrolls, beneath a central group of crocketed finials.

Given by the University of Edinburgh

Notes on sideboard
At the Great Exhibition, the most admired piece that was sent from Coburg was this sideboard, which received an ‘Honourable Mention’ from the Juries. The sideboard was designed with the help of the Coburg court artist Ferdinand Rothbart and a designer or artist named Th. Kolb about whom nothing is now known. It was made by Thomas Hoffmeister and Theodor Behrens.

The sideboard and a matching set of four chairs (W.11-1967) were acquired by Queen Victoria. By 1859 they were in the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, where they were stamped with the inventory mark for that palace. The sideboard and two chairs also appear in a watercolour of the Evening Drawing Room by George Greig (c. 1820-1867) in 1863. In 1923, King George V gave the furniture, by then very much out of fashion, to the University of Edinburgh.

Object Type
This set of chairs matches the Gothic sideboard (W.11-1967) and was shown with it at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Although the chairs look like thrones, they were made to demonstrate the skill of the designers and carvers. Theodor Behrens, who was responsible for the carving, created each chair with slightly different motifs and carved an inscription, including his name, on the back of this one. Originally the wool tassels were bright pink.

Historical Association
At the Great Exhibition of 1851 a group of small German states, including Coburg, that had originally formed the Zollverein (a union of states with free trade among its members and uniform custom rates for others), had a joint display. The chairs illustrate the successful combination of contemporary manufacturing practice with traditional craft skills, which was a major concern of Prince Albert and the other promoters of the Great Exhibition. The set of furniture, including this chair, was praised by the Art-Journal Illustrated Catalogue in 1851 for the carving 'in the German-Gothic style of the middle ages'. The sideboard received an honourable mention in the jury reports for the exhibition.

Ownership and Use
Queen Victoria and her family used Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, as a stopping-off place while travelling to Balmoral, their holiday home in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The sideboard and chairs were probably installed in the Evening Drawing Room, part of the Royal Apartments on the first floor of the Palace, in 1852. The room was also furnished with a suite of comfortable seat furniture covered in crimson velvet. In 1863 the Queen commissioned a watercolour of the room, showing two of these chairs either side of the sideboard, to record her happy memories of holidays in Scotland with Prince Albert.

W.10-1967