Armchair thumbnail 1
Armchair thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On display at Kensington Palace, London

Armchair

1675-1690 (Made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

An armchair with caned back panel and seat, with spiral uprights (with squashed ball finials), arm supports and and H-form stretcher, the curved arms carved in low relief with acanthus leaf. Low relief carving with symmetrical scrollwork and punched ground (3x3 motif) has been applied to: the four elements that frame a rectangular panel of canework, the rail connecting the front legs. On all the horizontal elements the low relief carving includes paired rosettes. The outer faces of the seat rails (upper face only on the rear rail) have been incised with a running X motif within double line borders.

Modifications
Three of the seat rails are replacements: the front, back and proper left side. An infill section to the central carved motif on the top rail of the back (possibly replacement). The caning modern. The feet are all replacements. A dark pigmented has been liberally applied over all surfaces including the caning, which has been worn away in places to reveal the much paler colour of the wood.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved and turned walnut; caning
Brief description
Armchair of carved and turned walnut with a cane back panel and seat; English, 1675-90. RF 73/1285
Physical description
An armchair with caned back panel and seat, with spiral uprights (with squashed ball finials), arm supports and and H-form stretcher, the curved arms carved in low relief with acanthus leaf. Low relief carving with symmetrical scrollwork and punched ground (3x3 motif) has been applied to: the four elements that frame a rectangular panel of canework, the rail connecting the front legs. On all the horizontal elements the low relief carving includes paired rosettes. The outer faces of the seat rails (upper face only on the rear rail) have been incised with a running X motif within double line borders.

Modifications
Three of the seat rails are replacements: the front, back and proper left side. An infill section to the central carved motif on the top rail of the back (possibly replacement). The caning modern. The feet are all replacements. A dark pigmented has been liberally applied over all surfaces including the caning, which has been worn away in places to reveal the much paler colour of the wood.


Dimensions
  • Height: 119cm
  • Width: 59cm
  • Depth: 64cm
Seat height: 41.5cm From catalogue: 47 7/8 x 22 3/4 x 64
Marks and inscriptions
RB (Maker's stamp on carved elements: both arms, front stretcher and all four carved elements enclosing the back caned panel)
Object history
Bought for £20 from Mirza Ysuff Khan, 46 Guildford Street, London W6 (RF 1910/3345M)
'worn, wormeaten, restored'
On loan to Kensington Palace

618-1901 and W51-1910, installed in the Queen’s Drawing Room at Kensington Palace. The chairs were moved to the drawing room in June 2014. Cane seat conserved 2019.

RP 10/3345, 51/713, 67/1936, 73/1285

Historical context
Context
See Adam Bowett, English Furniture 1660-1714, (Woodbridge, 2002), chapter 3; plate 3:36 illustrates one of set of side chairs (comparable in design and in their shallow carving) at Hardwick Hall (The National Trust), of which the carved elements are stamped BO or RW, and dateable 1675-85
Collection
Accession number
W.51-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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