Chair, one of a pair with W.17-1967, of walnut grained to imitate rosewood, with upholstered seat and back panel covered in green velvet. The chair has cabriole legs, a serpentine-outlined back panel and a drop-in seat. The stretchers are of H-formation, with an additional back stretcher. These chairs are close to designs by José Francisco de Paiva (1744-1824), cabinet-maker and architect of Oporto.

Chair, one of a pair, of carved walnut, grained to imitate rosewood, with upholstered back and seat panel covered in modern green velvet, similar to designs by Jose Francisco de Paiva.
The chair has cabrole front legs with out-curving, tri-lobed feet, the knees carved with a fan-shaped motif above a cartouche. The back legs are raked, but not carved. The legs are joined by an H-form stretcher, each part of serpentine outline and with a higher, turned back stretcher. The back legs continue upwards to form the serpentine sides of the back, which is set in the centre with a solid splat, upholstered in green velvet, within a serpentine-sided frame. The top-rail is shaped and surmounted by a low cresting of rococo scrolls centreing on a pendant husk motif, with a pendant leaf at each side. The drop-in seat is covered in green velvet. The joint at the back of the seat has been strengthened by a metal support, painted to march the wood when in the Museum's collection.

Condition
The back seat rail is reinforced with a metal strap, painted to imitate the wood by conservators after the chair came into the Museum's collections.

Purchased, with its pair, W.17-1967, from J.A.Lewis & Son, 136 Brompton Road, SW3 for £130. Se Registered File 67/1866

These chairs show the influence of English design that was prevalent in Portugal in the second half of the 18th century. The Methuen Treaty of 1703 started large-scale trade between Portugal and England, with wines flowing in one direction and woollen cloth in the other. By the mid-18th century there was a large community of English wine-merchants living in Oporto, where these chairs are thought to have been made. They relate closely to drawings by José Francisco de Paiva (1744-1824), an architect and cabinet-maker established in that city. They relate closely to a drawing for an armchair published by Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, in Ensemblador e Arquitecto do Porto (1744-1824), published in connection with an exhibition at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, 1973, pp. 136-7. At the same time, there were a number of English, Scottish and Irish cabinet-makers working in Lisbon. For the best chairs, Brazilian rosewood was used but here the maker has tried to disguise walnut as the more expensive wood by graining it. Almost all Portuguese chairs of this period have drop-in seats rather than fully upholstered seats.

Although similar to English chairs that date from between 1745 and 1755, these could have been made as late as about 1780. Rococo died hard in Portugal, lingering on into the first years of the 1800s.

The Methuen Treaty of 1703 greatly helped expand trade between England and Portugal. English goods, including furniture, were shipped in large quantities to Portugal, especially to Oporto, the centre of the Port wine trade. English cabinet-makers established themselves both in Oporto and Lisbon, and the influence of their styles was strongly felt. José Francisco de Paiva (1744-1824), Oporto's leading cabinet-maker, left a collection of 130 sheets of drawings dating from about 1780, now in the Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon. these include furniture designs that show strong English influences, ranging from Rococo to Neo-Classical. This chair and its pair (W.17-1967) are remarkably similar to one of them.

W.18-1967