Armchair
c. 1790 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
'Fancy chairs', which was the contemporary term for light, painted chairs such as this one and its pair (W.4-1941) were highly popular from the 1780s until at least the 1820s. The forms changed with fashions but these light, portable and pretty chairs continued to be made in large quantities. They were made by large firms such as Gillows of Lancaster and also by smaller local makers or specialists. The painting of them was certainly a specialist trade, quite distinct from the making of the chairs, which used mainly beechwood, a cheap, light wood, that took the paint well. Such chairs were made with rush or caned seats, and generally provided with loose cushions covered in printed cottons that could tone with the painted decoration.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Beechwood, carved and painted; the seat caned |
| Brief description | Armchair, one of a pair, of beech painted dark brown with white lines outlining the elements and further floral decoration in polychrome. The back is square, the top rail with a raised centre section; the seat is caned. |
| Physical description | Armchair, one of a pair, of beech painted dark brown with white lines outlining the elements and further floral decoration in polychrome. The back is square, the top rail with a raised centre section; the seat is caned. The legs are square-sectioned and tapering, above collared feet. The front and side rails of the seat are gently bowed. The arms, which flow down from the top of the back uprights, are raised on concave arm supports that rise immediately above the front legs. The back has a trapezoidal shaped central splat composed of two narrow upright fillets to either side of a carved, elongated urn, with a panel above that fills the centre, painted with flowers. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Mr Richard Crossley Sharman |
| Object history | For an account of such 'Fancy chairs' (painted chairs) see; Borham, John, '"Makers of Dy'd, Fancy and Japan'd Chairs", Regional Furniture, vol. XXIV (2010), pp. 70-75 Borham, John, 'A Regional Perspective on the Innovative Development of Light Chairs', Regional Furniture, vol. XXVI (2012), pp. 149-176. |
| Summary | 'Fancy chairs', which was the contemporary term for light, painted chairs such as this one and its pair (W.4-1941) were highly popular from the 1780s until at least the 1820s. The forms changed with fashions but these light, portable and pretty chairs continued to be made in large quantities. They were made by large firms such as Gillows of Lancaster and also by smaller local makers or specialists. The painting of them was certainly a specialist trade, quite distinct from the making of the chairs, which used mainly beechwood, a cheap, light wood, that took the paint well. Such chairs were made with rush or caned seats, and generally provided with loose cushions covered in printed cottons that could tone with the painted decoration. |
| Associated object | W.4-1941 (Pair) |
| Bibliographic reference | Tomlin, Maurice, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture (London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972), cat. no. Q/12, p. 141. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.3-1941 |
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| Record created | December 16, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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