Walnut veneers had been used on English case furniture (such as chests-of-drawers, cabinets and bureaux) since the late 17th century, and in the 1720s began also to be used on chairs. This form of hoop-backed chair, which became fashionable in the 1730s, presented several large flat surfaces to show off fine marble-like burr veneers, which come from the root section of the tree. This chair and its pair (W.37A-1920) originally formed part of a larger set. The veneers on the chair-backs were cut out from a single stock of wood, one behind the other, so as to repeat the same asymmetric pattern with small variations.