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Not currently on display at the V&A

Chair

1700-1720 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Vishakhapatnam (made)

This chair is one of three (Museum nos. 1023A to C-1882) with a matching daybed (1024-1882), all of Indian origin. They were made between 1700 and 1720 at Vizagapatam, a port situated on the east coast of India known for its fine ivory-inlay work. When they came to the V&A, curators thought they were Italian or Indo-Portuguese. In fact, they are among the earliest surviving pieces of furniture made in India in an English style. There is a related suite at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (now a National Trust property). The owners of the house thought the suite was Elizabethan when they acquired it in the early 1800s.


Object details

Category
SCRAN
Object type
Chair
Materials and techniques
Ebony, inlaid with ivory, with later red velvet upholstery
Ivory
Brief description
Chair, ebony inlaid with ivory, with later red velvet upholstery, Vishakhapatnam, 1700-20.
Physical description
Chair, ebony inlaid with ivory, with later red velvet upholstery.
Dimensions
  • Height: 119cm
  • Seat height: 44.5cm
  • Approx. width: 46cm
  • Approx. depth: 51cm
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Subject depicted
Floral Patterns
Summary
This chair is one of three (Museum nos. 1023A to C-1882) with a matching daybed (1024-1882), all of Indian origin. They were made between 1700 and 1720 at Vizagapatam, a port situated on the east coast of India known for its fine ivory-inlay work. When they came to the V&A, curators thought they were Italian or Indo-Portuguese. In fact, they are among the earliest surviving pieces of furniture made in India in an English style. There is a related suite at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (now a National Trust property). The owners of the house thought the suite was Elizabethan when they acquired it in the early 1800s.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Amin Jaffer, Luxury Goods From India: the art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, London : V&A, 2002, pp. 70-71, ill. ISBN: 1 85177 381 9.
  • The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950] p. 237, cat. no. 1279
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
1023C-1882

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Record createdNovember 28, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O71035/chair-unknown/
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