Carved and gilded armchair with tapestry upholstery from Wentworth Castle

A large upholstered, carved and gilded armchair. The slightly arched rectangular back, trapezoid seat and arm pads are covered with floral tapestry. On the seat and back the tapestry has a russet ground, on the arm pads it has a darker a brown ground. The arms have scrolling, leaf-carved terminals and their curved supports are carved with fish scales, with a swag of laurel leaves twisted around. Around the base of the seat there is a carved and gilded bead-and-reel moulding. All raised on gilded cabriole legs carved with fish scales, scrolls and bell flowers, bound with a laurel leaf swag, terminating in leaf-carved, scrolled feet.
The finely carved cabriole legs and uprights to the arms have Rococo scrollwork forming panels round a ground with a scale-pattern, the front legs being entwined by a spiralling garland of bay leaves. The feet are formed by outward- and downward-rolling scrolls. The carved ends of the arm-rests are turned outwards and downwards in the manner usual at this period.
The seat, back, and arms are upholstered and covered with tapestry. The panels on the seat and back have a claret-coloured ground; those on the arms have a dark brown or black ground and appear to have been cut from larger panels of a different style from the rest. The main panels are each decorated with a large bunch of flowers composed in the late-Baroque manner, tied with a ribbon.

Given by Mrs F. E. Rhodes

Almost certainly made by the firm of Richard Wright and Edward Elwick in Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Object Type
This armchair comes from a suite of at least five armchairs and a sofa. This lavish suite was designed to show off the taste and wealth of the owner, and would probably have been used in a drawing room, one of the most expensively furnished rooms of a house. The floral tapestry covers date from the 18th century, although the under-upholstery is modern.

Design & Designing
The chair was almost certainly supplied by Richard Wright and Edward Elwick of Wakefield, Yorkshire, who were working between 1745 and 1771. They were the pre-eminent firm of cabinet-makers and upholsterers in Yorkshire at that time. Richard Wright may have directed the Soho tapestry factory in London before moving to Wakefield, thus providing the firm with expertise in the use of tapestry. The chair frame is carved with fish scales and acanthus leaves, and gilt, for a very opulent effect.

Ownership & Use
The suite was made for William Wentworth, 4th Earl of Strafford (1722-1791), for Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire. There is a bill dating from 1746 for chairs and a sofa from the firm of Wright & Elwick. The Duchess of Northumberland wrote that she saw 'French chairs emb'd [embroidered] with flowers upon Brown by the famous Mr Wright' when she visited Wentworth Castle in 1760. She was probably referring to these chairs, mistaking the woven tapestry for embroidery.

W.36-1964