Footstool thumbnail 1
Footstool thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Footstool

1821 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Red velvet footstool with fringed edging, supported by four carved giltwood lions.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Footstool
  • Base Cloth
Materials and techniques
Beech, stained, carved and gilt; silk velvet; metal thread trimming
Brief description
George IV coronation footstool, giltwood figures of lions and red velvet upholstery, made by Bailey and Saunders, London, 1821
Physical description
Red velvet footstool with fringed edging, supported by four carved giltwood lions.
Dimensions
  • Length: 95.5cm
  • Width: 73.5cm (note: width different either side)
  • Width: 72.5cm (note: width different either side)
  • Height: 29.5cm
Credit line
Purchased with Art Fund support, and the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Westminster Abbey
Object history
Made for use with the St Edmund footstool in Westminster Abbey for the coronation of George IV in 1821. The history of the stool between 1821 and 1991 is unrecorded. The Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hertford, did not claim it as a perquisite, as was traditional, in 1821. Sir George Naylor published an illustrated record of the Coronation of George IV which included drawings of St Edward's Chair and the present footstool (p. 45, 1837 edition).

This stool was on long-term loan to Westminster Abbey Museum, 1991-2015.

Description from paper register:
Supplied by Bailey and Saunders.
Original upholstery supplied by William King and Thomas Charlton.
Originally upholstered by John King.
W.7:1-1991: carved giltwood with beech frame; silk velvet, metal thread fringe.
W.7:2-1991: hessian with ink inscription.
English, 1821.
The present top cover of silk velvet was added during the 20th century toegher with the metal thread fringe. Nor is the present gilding original. Conservation reports from December 1991 are on the Acquisition RPs (91/2154). An inscription on the base cover (W.7:2-1991) reads: "John King [?stuft] this stool July 11th 1821 for Messr. Baily & Sanders [sic] Mount St. London footstool for the Crowning Chair."

The footstool was supplied for the Coronation of George IV at Westminster Abbey on 20th July 1821. It is possible that it was designed by Benjamin Dean Wyatt, Surevyor of the Fabric for the Abbey betweeen 1813 and 1827. The carved lions were intended to match those on St Edward's Chair (the Coronation Throne), the restoration of which was carried out at the same time by Wyatt's cousin, Edward Wyatt.

The original invoice from Bailey and Saunders survives in the Lord Chamberlain's papers in the PRO (LC 2/5, fo. 39):
To a richly carved footstool, with Lions to Correspond
with saint Edward's chair, Stuffed in Canvas
& covered with white Calico £39 18s
To covering ditto with the Office Gold Tissue correspond £1 2s
To making a loose Cover for ditto 8s
To a brown holland Cover for Ditto 9s6d

The covering for the footstool (and St Edward's Chair) was provided by the silk mercer William King: "18 Yds Gold Frosted Tabby % 7/7d 135-1s-1d" (PRO LC 2/50 fo.39) and the fringe by Thomas Charlton (LC 2/50 fo.51-2).
Subject depicted
Associations
Bibliographic references
  • Plates 38 and 45 Naylor, Sir George, The Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty King George the Fourth, second (enlarged) edition, (London, 1837)
  • Colllard, Frances, The Coronation Footstool of George IV in Art Quarterly, September 1992.
  • Graham, Clare: Ceremonial and Commemorative Chairs in Great Britain. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1994. ISBN 1 85177 136 0, pp. 51-3, fig.67.
  • 'Recent acquisitions of furniture and woodwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum'. Burlington Magazine June 1993, vol. CXXXV, no. 1083, pp. 443-448. This item illustrated as item V.
Collection
Accession number
W.7:1, 2-1991

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Record createdAugust 31, 2005
Record URL
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