Armchair
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (probably, made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs C. E. Allan OBE, in memory of her husband, Mr C. E. Allan
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 57b
- Download image
Object Type
Three-legged chairs were suitable for use on uneven floors as they would not wobble. In their simplest form turned seats were stools made by inserting three splayed legs into holes in a flat piece of wood.
Materials & Making
Chairs like this and other objects turned on a lathe were sometimes called 'thrown'. They were made on a pole lathe, driven by pulling on a length of cord attached to a pole. The post was attached to a spindle, which was turned by the cord. It was shaped and patterned by a gouge, or cutting tool, held against the post as it turned. Pole lathes were simple to make and could be set up anywhere.
These chairs were often made from locally grown wood, in this case freshly cut oak, a tree native to Britain. The wood has since been varnished black.
Time
Turned armchairs and three-legged stools can be seen in medieval manuscripts, though they probably were made even earlier. Similar chairs were also made in other parts of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. They are difficult to date accurately, but in Britain many were made in the 16th and 17th centuries. We think this one dates from that time.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, UK (probably, made)
Date
1580-1620 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Unseasoned ('green') oak
Dimensions
Height: 88.9 cm, Width: 61.2 cm, Depth: 48.5 cm
Object history note
Probably made in Britain, by an unindentified turner.
Turned chair at Tamworth, gift of Mrs C E Allan, Avalon, St Albans, 29.IV.31
Notes from R.P. 31/4310
Gift Form
Lists, among 11 items, as "1 Chair, oak turned"
24/4/31 Ralph Edwards
visited St Albans to view the objects offered on loan with the suggestion of an ultimate gift by Mrs Allan of furniture collected by her late husband. Mrs Allan then offers the furniture as an outright gift. Edwards notes:
"her husband was a friend of the late Seymour Lucas and acquired a number of good pieces of oak furniture many years ago. Among the objects now offered….an early oak chair….."
Edwards lists the furniture he thinks should be collected. Among items from the Hall
is "oak turned chair".
6/5/31, H Clifford Smith to Brackett
that he has examined the Allan gift with Mr Arthur Stair (one of the best judges existing of English oak furniture) and suggests that 7 of 11 items be accepted as "they appear to be good and desirable examples of English oak of the 16th and 17th century and will be desirable additions to the Museum collections".
Historical context note
These turned chairs of triangular form were also popular with furniture collectors in the nineteenth century. Two examples are visible in the photograph of Lord Llangattock asleep in the Oak Parlour of his house, The Hendre,near Monmouth, in the 1890s. This photograph, No. 2921-97, is part of the Photograph Collection. It is illustrated in The Romantic Interior by Clive Wainwright, Yale University Press, 1989, pl. 267.
Descriptive line
THREE-LEGGED ARMCHAIR
Labels and date
British Galleries:
This chair was made almost entirely of turned posts with simple joints. The posts were worked on a lathe, a foot-operated machine that turned a length of wood at high speed, while the turner shaped it, using a chisel. The front 'stretcher' under the seat has often been used as a foot rest and shows the wear of thousands of feet. [27/03/2003]
Categories
Furniture
Collection code
FWK
