Chair, one of a set of four chairs and two armchairs, of carved and gilt walnut, the square back and horseshoe-shaped seat upholstered in pink and yellow silk (modern), the top rail carved with a bow and wreath.

Chair of carved and gilt walnut, with seat of serpentine form and square back, the legs carved as quivers filled with arrows, the top seat rail with an unstrung bow and a wreath, with myrtle.

The legs (those at the back slightly raked) support an upholstered seat with serpentine side rails and bowed front rail. Outset blocks above each leg are carved with recessed panels set with squared rosettes; between these the top edges of the seat rails are beaded, above a recessed panel carved with swags of flowers, including roses, suspended with ribbons from the top frame of the recessed panel and, in the centre of the front, formed as a wreath hanging from the beading. The back is raised on short uprights, the side and front faces carved with lambrequins and tassels; above these, outset blocks are carved with opposed foliage cups, between which the lower rail of the back is carved with a recessed panel set with four small swags of flowers. The back uprights are in the form of fluted shafts, each rising from a cup of upright leaf ornament, and enriched at the top with trails of bell flowers in alternate flutes. A deep, plain collar at the top of each shaft flanks the top rail, which is carved with beading on the lower edge and with two branches of myrtle, the stalks bound together by a tasseled cord, within a central wreath of myrtle, all on a recessed panel. The uprights are each set with a pomegranate finial, bursting to show the seeds. Between these the pierced cresting shows the unstrung bow and a central wreath of roses.

The chair is of mortise and tenon construction, the seat rails tenoned into the blocks at the top of the legs, the back rails tenoned between the uprights. The backs are made with additional uprights to the inside of the visible shafts; these are tenoned between the top and bottom rails and allow for the attachment of the upholstery. On the seat, the legs, which rise slightly above the seat rails to give shape to the upholstery, are double pinned through each joint, from the inside of the frame. The seat rails are deeply chamfered on the lower, inner edge and are painted in ochre on their inner surfaces.

On this chair, in the trophy on the top rail, the single arrow points to the left, and the left side of the wreath lies behind the trophy (as on 1062A-1882). The ornament on1062B-1882 is reversed.

Bequeathed by John Jones

The choice of the pink and yellow striped covering for re-upholstery in the 1970s by Peter Thornton may have been based on the engraving 'Defends Moi' based on a painting of the 1780s by Boilly, a copy of which is in the Print Room (E.2816-1948).

This chair (one of a set of four and two armchairs) comes from the workshop of the most fashionable Paris chair-maker of the late 18th century, Georges Jacob. One of his principal patrons was Louis XVI's queen, Marie-Antoinette, and he supplied her with several sets similar to this one in the 1780s, for various French royal palaces. The history of the present set is not known, but the carved decoration - including Cupid's bows with quivers of arrows, and wreaths of flowers -- suggests that it was made for a lady's bedroom or boudoir.

The upholstery dates from the 1960s (although the webbing under the seat may be original), but its square profile is based on the style of upholstery fashionable in late 18th-century Paris.

1062-1882