Chair of turned and carved walnut, with seat and back panels of cane, the cresting carved with a phoenix

A plain chair of walnut, with panels of caning in the seat and back, the frame turned and carved, with the figure of a phoenix carved in the cresting.

The back stiles, above seat level, are turned with alternate spiral and baluster sections, rising to finials of knob form, with rectangular sections at all joints. Below the seat the stiles are plainly turned with rectangular sections at the joints, the front face of the lowest sections cut away to suggest a rake in the leg.

The front legs are carved in the form of S-scrolled consoles, with turned sections above. The side stretchers are baluster-turned, with rectangular joint sections. The central cross stretcher (a replacement) is of plain rectangular section, as is the high back stretcher (also a replacement).

The seat is constructed as a separate frame, the stiles cut out at the back to receive the frame (the joints pegged from the side with a single peg), the front of the frame resting on the front legs which are dowelled into the underside of the frame. The frame of the seat is undecorated, the front edge simply rounded. The frame is possibly a replacement. There is difference between the caning of the back and seat which also suggests a replacement.
The lower rail of the back and cresting are pierced and carved and are very slightly curved in plan. The lower rail and the muntins which flank the caned panel of the back are carved with scrolling acanthus, the cresting with a phoenix, wings open. Loss to the top of the cresting give it a more asymmetrical appearance than originally intended. The outer surface of the back shows a number of curved chisel marks. Old metal strap repairs are visible behind the right (PL) joint of stile and cresting, and behind the right (PL) stile at seat height.

Bequeathed by Miss Muriel Alexander

Bequeathed by Miss Muriel Augusta Morant Alexander, Undishore House, Walhampton, Lymington, Hampshire RF 78/1673 "wormy. A metal bar repairs a break at the bottom of the right upright. Three metal plaques repair damage to the right side of the back. The front legs are slightly crumbled at the base."

Caned chairs appeared in England soon after the Restoration of King Charles II, and quickly became popular, being cheaper, lighter and less prone to dust and pest than their upholstered equivalents. They were widely recorded in middle-class as well as noble house inventories well into the first half of the eighteenth century. Both the technique and the material (rattan cane or calamus rotang split into long narrow strips) came from Asia. The canes were imported in large quantities by the East India Company to London, where the production of caned furniture was concentrated. Caned chairs were also exported from London in large quantities, so much so that in France they were known as chaises d'anglaise, and in the German states as englische Stühle. They were often used with a light seat cushion.

W.49-1979