Armchair
1845-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This chair is one of a pair (with W.3-1986) made in the workshop of the celebrated German cabinetmaker Johann Wilhelm Vetter of Neuwied. Both are marked with the stamp of his workshop. In the early 1840s Vetter had made a number of important pieces of Gothic Revival furniture for Schloss Stolzenfels near Koblenz in western Germany, and these chairs are very similar in style. Stolzenfels was designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was the most accomplished designer in the Gothic style in Germany at the time. In 1995, however Bernhard Gondorf published images of furniture by Vetter made for Schloss Braunfels, Hesse, Germany and the close similarity of detailing suggests more strongly that this chair and its pair were made for Braunfels.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Oak, carved and coloured with dark stain |
Brief description | Of carved and stained oak, the backs pierced with a roundel of tracery |
Physical description | The chair is raised on hexagonal, facetted legs and the back uprights, arms and arm supports are all of similar section. The arm supports are back-curving in an S-scroll and the arms are serpentine and down-curving. The seat is of oak, the outer faces of the side and front rails carved with recessed panels with arched ends. The back is of ogee arch form, the centre carved and pierced with a circular design of tracery |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions | I W VETTER NEUWIED (Stamp [check where]) |
Gallery label |
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Object history | Possibly made for Schloss Braunfels, Hesse, Germany. The castle was re-built in 1845 in the Gothic style (see reference to article by Bernhard Gondorf below). |
Subject depicted | |
Summary | This chair is one of a pair (with W.3-1986) made in the workshop of the celebrated German cabinetmaker Johann Wilhelm Vetter of Neuwied. Both are marked with the stamp of his workshop. In the early 1840s Vetter had made a number of important pieces of Gothic Revival furniture for Schloss Stolzenfels near Koblenz in western Germany, and these chairs are very similar in style. Stolzenfels was designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was the most accomplished designer in the Gothic style in Germany at the time. In 1995, however Bernhard Gondorf published images of furniture by Vetter made for Schloss Braunfels, Hesse, Germany and the close similarity of detailing suggests more strongly that this chair and its pair were made for Braunfels. |
Associated object | |
Bibliographic reference | Gondorf, Bernhard, 'Die Möbelfabrik Vetter in Neuwied', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschicte, 58. Band 1996. Heft 3. Sonderdruck, Berlin and Munich Deutsche Kunstverlag, 1996, pp. 381-394. The V&A chairs are illustrated as figure 9, p. 392. |
Collection | |
Accession number | W.2-1986 |
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Record created | June 1, 2001 |
Record URL |
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