Low-backed armchair in a tropical hardwood with cabriole legs and pierced, carved splats in the back and under the arms, the drop-in seat covered with 18th-century woollen embroidery, showing a fisherman amongst flowers.

Low-backed armchair of carved tropical hardwood (probably huali), with a drop-in seat covered in gros-point embroidery of polychrome flowers surrounding the figure of a fisherman (this probably applied to the chair in the early 20th century). The form of the chair is idiosyncratic, combining features of a low-back Windsor chair and a writing or corner chair (see, for example, V&A Museum numbers: 267-1908, W.42-1924 or W.13-1965), with the carved and pierced splats shown in engraved furniture designs published in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Design
All four legs are of cabriole form, with claw-and-ball feet, those on the front with a more pronounced curve to the knee, but with similar strongly delineated claw feet on all four. These feet show exceptionally long claws (three in front and one behind). The knees are carved with shallow but well-defined downward-scrolling acanthus, the front knees with a sharply angled outer edge, the back knees with the ornament flattened to follow the back curve of the seat. On the front legs the carving runs on to the shaped spandrel brackets which are additionally ornamented on their outer edges with upward-scrolling acanthus.
The serpentine seat rail is shaped on the lower edge, the edge outlined with a raised, rounded moulding. The centre of the rail is carved with a ribbed motif, overlaid with three flower heads and trails of foliage running to the sides. The top edge of the front rail and of the front posts to the front of the arm supports, are carved with an inset quarter-round moulding to provide an edge to the drop-in seat. The side and back seat rails are apparently continuous and are cut in the solid. They are of rectangular section. On the lower edge, between the spandrel brackets, are attached separate narrow mouldings carved with gadrooning. The tops of the side and back rails are carved with integral 'shoes' to hold the splats. These are of standard pattern, with in-curved sides and a moulded top edge.
The three splats are pierced, carved with interlaced motifs, with Gothic quatrefoils and cusped shapes in the centre, above the base. The edges are defined by raised mouldings creating elongated C and S scrolls, one pair ending with shallow, carved foliage, just above the mid-height of the splats. The splats under the arms of the chair have been re-drawn, so that they appear to slope backwards, echoing the line of the arm supports.
The top rail is runs at the same height as the arms, which curve round and down in the style of traditional Chinese chairs, to simple finials with rounded front edges and small side protruberances that are carved with a circle, giving the whole of the end of the arm the appearance of a frog's head. The centre of the top rail is set with a shallow, additional cresting section that follows the curve of the back between (and slightly overlapping) the back uprights. The front surface of it is rounded and the section scrolls back. It is carved on the front with a central flower motif, similar to (but smaller than) that on the front rail, with smaller flower sprigs at either end. The ends of the cresting section are outlined with incised lines forming panels and these are carved as scrolling mouldings on the front face of the cresting.
The back uprights of the chair are continuous with the back legs but are simply carved as tapering, square-sectioned pillars, with heavily chamfered corners, stop-chamfered near the base, the chamfering following a widening section below towards the junction with the seat rail.
The fronts of the arms rest on S-shaped supports that rise just behind the front legs and sweep backwards to join the arms with no clear visual separation. The supports are of rounded profile, the outer edges carved with elongated and simplified acanthus. They are attached to the outer side of the seat rail and the outer faces of their bases are carved with acanthus scrolls.
Construction:
The chair is of standard construction, with rails tenoned into the legs. There is no sign of pegging of the joints. The arm supports, back uprights and splats are tenoned up into the underside of the top rail, which is made in three sections, with divisions visible to either side of the back splat. This division is reinforced by the application of the the cresting rail and it is likely that the tenons on the back uprights pass through the top rail and into the cresting rail.
The lower ends of the splats are fitted into the 'shoes' which are carved in one piece with the seat rails, and the upper ends are tenoned into the underside of the top rail.
On the front rail and the front corners there is a recess to receive the drop-in seat but this does not continue on the side or back rails, where the seat is supported on blocks set across the back uprights and each attached with 2 large, handmade screws.
Condition:
The chair is generally in good condition. One short (approximately 10cm) section of gadrooning is missing from the underside of the seat, just behind the PR front leg. The embroidery is worn in places and shows moth damage.

Given by Mr F. Howard Reed

Given to the V&A by Frederick Howard Reed, in 1953 (see Registered File 53/3610). Mr Reed, who lived at 3 Berkeley House, Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, London, was a considerable collector of English 18th-century furniture. He originally intended to bequeath a larger part of his collection to the Museum but was well-known for changing his mind and his will. This chair, with nine other pieces and a set of chairs (W.60 to W.70-1953 inclusive) were given to the Museum during his lifetime and were for a short time displayed together in Gallery 40. At that tiem the gift was recorded as from an anonymous donor but following his death his executors agreed that his name should be attached to the gift.

This chair was originally part of a set of at least twelve, as the front seat rail is marked 'XII'. When it came to the Museum it was identified as a 'writing chair' but it is not of the classic form of writing chairs (sometimes also referred to as 'corner chairs'). Those generally have two splats only, with a central leg, over which the user sits to write when the chair is drawn up to the table. This chair is an adaptation of the design, with 3 splats, forming a low-back chair of bergere form, but, like writing chairs, it combines elements of design from low-back Windsor chairs, the round chairs known as 'Burgomaster' chairs, popular in the Dutch colonies in Asia in the 18th century, and engraved splat designs published in furniture design books published in England in the second half of the 18th century.

A good account of corner or writing chairs, linking them to card playing in particular is given in G. Bernard Hughes, 'Arm-Chairs for Hooped Skirts', Country Life, 10 November 1960, pp. 1108-1109. Hughes notes a first published mention of the type in a sale catalogue of a furniture from 'a Great House in Arlington Street' [London] in January 1734. He also notes that such chairs were advertised by Catherine Naish in 1759 in The London Chronicle in June.

In 1906 this chair (or another from the same set) was illustrated in Percy Macquoid's A History of English Furniture (see reference below). It was described as 'Propery of Messrs. Isaacs' (probably a reference to John Coleman Isaacs, the dealer in Wardour Street from the 1830s to his death in 1887). However, in the copy of Macquoid's book in the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department at the V&A, Isaac's name is crossed out, and that of E.H. Cuthbertson Esq. written in in pencil in its place. This appears to refer to Edward Hedley Cuthbertson, who purchased Bushey House, Bushey, Hertfordshire, in 1898. He was a stockbroker and collector (his drawing and paintings were sold by Christie's 21 May 1909). Mr Cuthbertson had two sons, Edward and Hugh, who both died in the First World War. In the 1906 image the chair appears to have a different needlework seat, so if it is the same chair, the refurbishment by Mellier & Co. took place after this time. Macquoid noted: 'In fig. 122 can be seen the usual type of writing-chair of this period, in which two and sometimes three strapwork splats are introduced somewhat on the principle of the wheel chair. In this example the front rail is serpentine and the centre decorated with a floral spray; the strapwork is of particularly good design and the seat is covered with its original needlework. The legs do not present any new feature, excepting the claw, which in many instances towards the end of its existence began to be lighter, as in the present example.'

In 1966 Peter Thornton, Keeper of Furniture, was the first to suggest that the great weight of this chair might be evidence that it was made of an Asian hardwood and that it was therefore probably of Dutch or Portuguese colonial origin, or made of wood imported from those areas. A note on the Acquisition Register had suggested that it was of Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) but no microscopic inspection has been done on the wood.

On long-term loan to the National Trust at Nunnington Hall, Yorkshire from 1979 until 2018 (Registered File 79/750).

When this chair was given to the Museum in 1953, it was thought to be of English make, dating from the middle years of the 18th century. The chair is exceptionally heavy, and made of a tropical hardwood, probably huali, which is related to rosewood, and highly prized in China. It is much too heavy to be an English chair and it is now thought to have been made in the city of of Guanzhou in China, which was known in Europe as Canton in the 18th and 19th century. Joiners and carvers in Guangzhou were highly skilled and produced many versions of European designs. It is thought that these were not so much for the European market as for the use of Europeans in areas such as British India. The splats in the back and sides relate to designs published by Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) and others from the 1750s onwards. The design also reflects the design of low-back Windsor chairs, which were also used from the mid-century, particularly for halls or libraries.

W.62:1to:2-1953