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Chair
Unknown - Enlarge image
Chair
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (made)
- Date:
1745-1765 (made)
1740-1750 (embroidered) - Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Walnut, veneered on beech; needlework in wool on linen canvas; modern case covers of wool serge, with cotton braid
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Lady Theobald. The conservation of the upholstery was generously funded by the Leche Foundation
- Museum number:
W.14-1938
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, Henrietta Street Room, room 54
Object Type
This chair is part of a set of six. It has an upholstered seat and back which are covered with embroidery in coloured wool on canvas ground, with a walnut frame. Its back and seat depict two different scenes.
Materials & Making
Needlework in wool on canvas was considered to be the most durable form of upholstered seat covering, and was sometimes made by the ladies of the house. Contemporary book illustrations were used as sources for the needlework patterns.
Subjects Depicted
The back shows a pastoral scene: two figures in fanciful costume with a cauldron. The seat shows a scene from Aesop's Fables: a crane thrusting its bill down the throat of a wolf (from 'The Wolf and the Crane').Further Information
Investigation of the under upholstery has revealed that the present 18th-century needlework did not originally belong to the chair. It was applied in the late 19th- or early 20th century. The chair legs originally had rimmed feet.
