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Not currently on display at the V&A

Armchair

c. 1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

France has been the source of designs for chairs in Britain since the development of the Rococo style in the 1740s but it became particularly strong in the 1790s. The Prince of Wales, whose decorating schemes at Carlton House, London, were particularly strongly copied, used French designers and makers as well as importing some pieces directly from France. This armchair, which must once have formed part of an impressive set, shows strong influences from France (for example, the channelled finish on the legs and back, the gilt-brass mounts) and may have been made by François Hervé, a chairmaker who fled from the revolution in Paris to set up in London and who made chairs with a similar design in the back for Lady Spencer at Althorp in 1791. The use of the lyre as a model for the splat of a chair was fairly widely used and both Robert Adam (1728-1792) and John Linnell (1729-1796) had already produced chair design incorporating this motif.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved mahogany, with brass rods, the upholstery of the seat modern
Brief description
Armchair of carved mahogany, the seat upholstered and covered in a striped fabric, the square back with a central splat in the form of a lyre, the 'strings' made of fine brass rod, which also fills the spaces under the down-curving mahogany arms.
Physical description
Armchair of carved mahogany, the seat upholstered and covered in a striped fabric, the square back with a central splat in the form of a lyre, the 'strings' made of fine brass rod, which also fills the spaces under the down-curving mahogany arms. The legs are square-sectioned and tapering, the front legs with recessed panels on the visible faces, the feet carved with water leaf imitating gilt-brass mounts, the blocks at the top of the legs set on the visible faces with gilt-brass paterae (rosettes). The back frame is also carved with recessed panels, the splat carved naturalistically as a lyre. The arms curved down from the top of the back in a continuous curve, the space below them filled with brass rods. The upholstery is modern. Some of the brass rods are replacements.

Dimensions
  • Height: 87.6cm
  • Width: 58.2cm
  • Depth: 52.5cm
Height taken from published catalogue 1972.
Style
Gallery label
  • ARMCHAIR ENGLISH; about 1775 Mahogany(1972)
  • The back is in the shape of a classical lyre, a feature popular in the late 18th century and used in the designs of both Robert Adam (1728-92) and John Linnel (11729-96).(1996)
  • This chair is noteworth in that the top-rail of the back fits between the uprights in the French manner. The Classical lyre, used by both Robert Adam and John Linnell for chair-backs, had also been adopted by certain French designers - notably Georges Jacob - and this armchair may well have been made under the influence of Francois Herve, the emigre chairmaker, who worked for Henry Holland and for the Prince Regent at Carlton House. Herve also produced chairs with backs constructed in this way for Lady Spencer at Althorp in 1791.
Object history
1869 was a very early date for the purchase of British furniture by the South Kensington Museum (the forerunner of the V&A). Until that time it had most concentrated on Italian or French pieces. This piece shows strong influence from France, in particular in the gilt-brass mounts at the top of the legs and edging the upholstery of the seat. Such fittings were almost unknown in Britain and were uncommon even in France.

The present upholstery was re-done in the 1970s.

Museum negative 74591 shows this on display in Gallery 40 in 1936 as part of a display of Georgian furniture.
Subjects depicted
Summary
France has been the source of designs for chairs in Britain since the development of the Rococo style in the 1740s but it became particularly strong in the 1790s. The Prince of Wales, whose decorating schemes at Carlton House, London, were particularly strongly copied, used French designers and makers as well as importing some pieces directly from France. This armchair, which must once have formed part of an impressive set, shows strong influences from France (for example, the channelled finish on the legs and back, the gilt-brass mounts) and may have been made by François Hervé, a chairmaker who fled from the revolution in Paris to set up in London and who made chairs with a similar design in the back for Lady Spencer at Althorp in 1791. The use of the lyre as a model for the splat of a chair was fairly widely used and both Robert Adam (1728-1792) and John Linnell (1729-1796) had already produced chair design incorporating this motif.
Bibliographic reference
Tomlin, Maurice, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture (London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972), cat. no. Q/14, p. 142.
Collection
Accession number
45-1869

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Record createdMay 1, 2001
Record URL
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