These chairs are an interesting example of how knowledge advances. They came to the V&A in 1879. At that time curators thought they were mahogany chairs made in England in about 1740 to 1760. This was because their shape closely resembled English corner chairs of that period. By the 1980s considerable research had been done on hardwood Chinese export furniture. The chairs have pierced ruyi-heads on the splats, so curators now thought that they had been made in China for the European market. The chairs were therefore transferred to the V&A's Far Eastern Department. In the 1990s a number of chairs appeared on the market which resembled the V&A pieces. A close study of their construction suggested that they were not Chinese, but possibly Indian. This suggestion was supported by two other pieces of evidence. First, similar corner armchairs appear in Company paintings of 1750-1775 from Bengal. (Company paintings are pictures made by Indian artists for Europeans in India.) Second, we know that Chinese craftsmen were working in that region, which explains the presence of the ruyi-head ornament. Recent research has revealed that in fact the chairs were made in Goa. They represent the fashion for English furniture forms there from the 1750s onwards.