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Armchair
Seddon & Sons - Enlarge image
Armchair
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1790 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Seddon & Sons (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Painted satinwood, with caned seat
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs A. E. Ingham
- Museum number:
W.2:1-1968
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 118e, case 7
Object Type
This is a light and decorative chair, probably used in a drawing room. It is one of a large set. Furniture painted with flowers and feathers was highly fashionable when the chair was made in 1790. In the 1790s painting was also used on tables and commodes (chests of drawers) as an alternative to marquetry (coloured wood veneers).
Ownership & Use
We know from the original bill, which was kept by the Tupper family, that the chair was made for their house in Guernsey. The bill also tells us that each chair had a canvas cushion on the cane seat, with a cover of chintz, or Indian printed cotton, with white braid and green fringe. The set also included a settee, three 'French stools' or window seats, and two fire screens, all painted and with covers to match.
Design & Designing
The firm of Seddon was the largest furniture-making business in London at the end of the 18th century. It made furniture in many fashionable styles. In this case the chair-back is in the shape of a shield, a form popularised by the furniture designs of George Hepplewhite published in his The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Guide of 1788.
