Settee
1735-1740 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This comes from a set of at least seven chairs and two settees (of which the second settee and three chairs are in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Merseyside, and four chairs are currently displayed at Chiswick House, London). It was probably made to furnish one of a suite of parade rooms in an aristocratic house. The original decoration seems to have been brown paint with gilt details, so it was perhaps used in a saloon rather than a drawing room (which in an important house would typically have fully gilded furniture).
The suite is similar to furniture made for several great Palladian houses designed by the architect William Kent (1685-1748), whose distinctive style was inspired by 16th- and 17th-century architecture and interiors that he saw in Italy. Kent was the first British architect to concern himself as much with the design of furnishings as with the architectural shell of a house. The scrolled legs and the bold naturalistic carving of this settee - with cornucopiae, scales, swags of fruit and shells - are typical of his style.
The suite is similar to furniture made for several great Palladian houses designed by the architect William Kent (1685-1748), whose distinctive style was inspired by 16th- and 17th-century architecture and interiors that he saw in Italy. Kent was the first British architect to concern himself as much with the design of furnishings as with the architectural shell of a house. The scrolled legs and the bold naturalistic carving of this settee - with cornucopiae, scales, swags of fruit and shells - are typical of his style.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved, gilt and painted walnut pieced out in fir, with beech, oak and ash secondary woods.
Noted from examination of the painted surface by Zoe Allan, V&A Gilding conservator on 27th November 2012.
After several scrapes and looking with close magnification at the layer structure it seems that it was originally completely oil gilded and that at a later date it was completely painted a dark black brown.
The following was observed throughout over the whole surface with no difference between the flat and high points of carving.
Wood
White layer (possibly oil)
Gold leaf
Brown layer (possibly oil)
The brown is covered with the current scheme of white and some elements are gilded. |
| Brief description | A settee of carved, white painted and gilded walnut and pine, in the style of William Kent, the frame decorated with boldly carved cornucopiae, swags of fruit and scaly shields, the seat rail carved with Greek key and the ends of the arms with satyr masks |
| Physical description | A settee of carved, white painted and gilded walnut and fir, in the style of William Kent, the frame decorated with boldly carved cornucopiae, swags of fruit and scaly shields, the seat rail carved with Greek key and the ends of the arms with satyr masks. The seat and back are covered with silk damask |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Object history | The motif of cornucopia was repeated in a number of designs for furniture by William Kent. It appeared first on a table designed by Kent for Houghton Hall Norfolk. A set of chairs and a settee at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, attributed with good reason to Kent, show a pair of conjoined cornucopia on the top rail of the settee. This set is illustrated and discussed in Weber, Susan, 'Kent and the Georgian Baroque Style in Furniture: Domestic Commissions', in Susan Weber ed. William Kent. Designing Georgian Britain (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, published for the Bard Graduate Center, New York, 2013 (ISBN: 978-0-300-19618-4), published in connection with the exhibition of the same name held at the Bard Center, New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2013-2014, pp. 469-526, illustrated on p. 482 and discussed pp. 481-2. |
| Production | This model is in the style of William Kent, but was not necessarily designed by him. The manufacture is attributed to William Hallett on the basis of comparison with other pieces of nearly the same pattern, some of which incorporate a caned internal seat frame such as is also found in a suite of mahogany chairs from Holkham that have documentary links to Hallett. For a discussion of the set with which this settee is associated, see Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008, vol. I, no. 29, pp. 330-345. |
| Summary | This comes from a set of at least seven chairs and two settees (of which the second settee and three chairs are in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Merseyside, and four chairs are currently displayed at Chiswick House, London). It was probably made to furnish one of a suite of parade rooms in an aristocratic house. The original decoration seems to have been brown paint with gilt details, so it was perhaps used in a saloon rather than a drawing room (which in an important house would typically have fully gilded furniture). The suite is similar to furniture made for several great Palladian houses designed by the architect William Kent (1685-1748), whose distinctive style was inspired by 16th- and 17th-century architecture and interiors that he saw in Italy. Kent was the first British architect to concern himself as much with the design of furnishings as with the architectural shell of a house. The scrolled legs and the bold naturalistic carving of this settee - with cornucopiae, scales, swags of fruit and shells - are typical of his style. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.48-1934 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 16, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
