Armchair of mahogany, the open, heart-shaped back carved with drapery and the Prince of Wales's feathers, the seat upholstered in horsehair (a modern replacement).

Carved mahogany. The black horse hair covering and the upholstery, modern. The seat has been strengthend below. The back made up of bands forming a heart-shape with an elongated ovoid shape in the middle rising to form a cresting, inside which is a Prince-of-Wales feather motif. Below, draped across the whole back is a festoon. Short 'S' curved arm-rests joined to downward and forward sweeping curved supports. The front legs straight, tapering and with square section but carved as if square leg contained a round-sectioned leg inside. Curved, square-sectioned back legs. Bracing pieces across angles inside seat-rails.

Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch

It seems likely that this design originated in about 1788, when the Prince of Wales was granted power by parliament to reign as Regent during a period when George III was suffering insanity as a result of the illness porhyria (the king in fact recovered and there was no Regency until 1811). The creation of highly fashionable interiors at Carlton House for the Prince between 1783 and 1786 had confirmed him as a style leader. A similar design, but within a heart-shaped back, was designed in 1787 by the firm of Gillows of Lancaster and London, for whom the design became very popular (see Susan Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008, pp. 160-163). A pattern board showing two variants for a painted chair-back of this pattern (also popular with Gillows' customers) is Museum No. W11-1993. A pattern board showing two variants for a painted chair-back of this pattern (also popular with Gillows' customers) is Museum No. W11-1993. A version of this pattern within an oval back is also in the collections of the V&A (1458-1904).

This chair pattern, with a heart-shaped back incorporating the Prince of Wales feathers, was very popular in the late 1780s and 1790s, and was probably manufactured by several different firms. The firm of Gillow & Company, of Lancaster and London, were making chairs of this type, which they called ‘Drapery and feather back’, by 1788. The design may have been suggested by the fact that, in 1787, the Prince of Wales took power as Regent when his father, George III, suffered a temporary bout of insanity as a result of the illness porphyria. The design was clearly popular because it was published as late as 1802, in a book of designs, although without the drapery. A design for this kind of chair back is also painted on a pattern board in the Museum that was used to show different ways of decorating such a chair (Museum no. W.11-1993) and another version of the design is also in the Museum's collection (Museum no. 1458-1904)

W.27-1962