Chair
ca. 1755-1770 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Side chairs were designed for dining or playing at cards. When not in use, they were placed against the wall, where the elaborate backs created a decorative effect.
The back of this chair is inspired by a design in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director (Plate XII, 1754 and 1755 editions, Plate XIII, repeated in Plate XIV, 3rd edition, 1762). The 'pedestal' or shoe for the back splat of one of this set of six chairs (W.62-1940) is inscribed in pencil '6 pedistals for Chipendels backs'. It is likely that the maker was simply following Chippendale's published designs, rather than working for the firm. The quality of the carving is not good enough for the chairs to have been made by the Chippendale firm.
Many versions were made by furniture makers throughout Britain and overseas, in a wide range of qualities. Without evidence from bills and inventories it is impossible to date such chairs closely. We know that workshops were producing chairs of this pattern more than 30 years after the 'Director' was published. When chairs were made following Director patterns, as in this example, it is only the back that is copied from the published plate. The seat and legs tend to be treated much more conventionally.
Chippendale's notes to the plate recommend that the design should be carefully drawn to scale before carving. He indicates that the fabric used to cover such chairs usually matches the window curtains. The height of the chair back should never be more than 22 inches (56 centimetres) above that of the seat. The mahogany would have been imported from the West Indies.
This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall.
The back of this chair is inspired by a design in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director (Plate XII, 1754 and 1755 editions, Plate XIII, repeated in Plate XIV, 3rd edition, 1762). The 'pedestal' or shoe for the back splat of one of this set of six chairs (W.62-1940) is inscribed in pencil '6 pedistals for Chipendels backs'. It is likely that the maker was simply following Chippendale's published designs, rather than working for the firm. The quality of the carving is not good enough for the chairs to have been made by the Chippendale firm.
Many versions were made by furniture makers throughout Britain and overseas, in a wide range of qualities. Without evidence from bills and inventories it is impossible to date such chairs closely. We know that workshops were producing chairs of this pattern more than 30 years after the 'Director' was published. When chairs were made following Director patterns, as in this example, it is only the back that is copied from the published plate. The seat and legs tend to be treated much more conventionally.
Chippendale's notes to the plate recommend that the design should be carefully drawn to scale before carving. He indicates that the fabric used to cover such chairs usually matches the window curtains. The height of the chair back should never be more than 22 inches (56 centimetres) above that of the seat. The mahogany would have been imported from the West Indies.
This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved mahogany; birch(?). Back seat rail reinforced with extra piece of wood. There are four new corner braces which are screwed in. Front and back legs joined by stretchers and cross stretcher. Replacement green coloured silk damask top cover and trimmed with braid. |
| Brief description | English chair, c.1755-70, carved mahogany, after a design by Thomas Chippendale. Renewed top cover in green silk damask. One of a set of six, W.62 to 67-1940. |
| Physical description | Carved mahogany. Symmetrically wavy top-rail with rococo detail carved in shallow relief. Pierced splat with inward facing scrolls, shallow relief carved acanthus leaves. Plain square front and back legs and four rectangular stretchers. Inner legs are chamfered. Tapering solid wood uprights reeded in front. Serpentine-fronted seat. Replacement seat top cover in green silk damask, and trimmed with braid. The front and side seat rails have been replaced, in birch(?), probably in 1876 when the chairs were restored by Hancock of Stratford-on-Avon (and when the inscription was found under the shoe of one chair in this set - W.62-1940). |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Miss Amy E. Tomes |
| Object history | The six chairs W.62 to 67-1940 were purchased by Robert Tomes in Shipston-on-Stour, and restored for him in 1876 by a cabinet-maker of Stratford-on-Avon named Hancock. They were bequeathed to the Museum by Robert Tomes's great-niece, Miss Amy E Tomes in 1940. Letters and drawings relating to the bequest were also acquired, museum no. W.85-1940. |
| Production | Closely based on a design by Thomas Chippendale (plate XII, right, in the 1st and 2nd editions of the "Director", 1754 & 1755, and plate XIII, right, repeated in plate XIV, right, in the 3rd edition of the "Director" (1762); the original plate is dated 1753). But the carving is rather flat and lifeless, suggesting that the chair is probably provincial. It differs from the design in certain respects: the C-scrolls at the top of the splat disappear into the top rail rather than ending in a round scroll; and instead the top rail is peaked above the points where the C-scrolls join it. And the forked section of the splat is solid, not pierced, below the scrolling foliage (about a third of the way down). Nevertheless, the faithfulness of the copy is another indication that the chair is likely to be provincial; generally, London makers would not have been so reliant on printed designs. |
| Association | |
| Summary | Side chairs were designed for dining or playing at cards. When not in use, they were placed against the wall, where the elaborate backs created a decorative effect. The back of this chair is inspired by a design in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director (Plate XII, 1754 and 1755 editions, Plate XIII, repeated in Plate XIV, 3rd edition, 1762). The 'pedestal' or shoe for the back splat of one of this set of six chairs (W.62-1940) is inscribed in pencil '6 pedistals for Chipendels backs'. It is likely that the maker was simply following Chippendale's published designs, rather than working for the firm. The quality of the carving is not good enough for the chairs to have been made by the Chippendale firm. Many versions were made by furniture makers throughout Britain and overseas, in a wide range of qualities. Without evidence from bills and inventories it is impossible to date such chairs closely. We know that workshops were producing chairs of this pattern more than 30 years after the 'Director' was published. When chairs were made following Director patterns, as in this example, it is only the back that is copied from the published plate. The seat and legs tend to be treated much more conventionally. Chippendale's notes to the plate recommend that the design should be carefully drawn to scale before carving. He indicates that the fabric used to cover such chairs usually matches the window curtains. The height of the chair back should never be more than 22 inches (56 centimetres) above that of the seat. The mahogany would have been imported from the West Indies. This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.66-1940 |
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| Record created | November 22, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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