Armchair
ca. 1935 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Cecil Beaton lived in Ashcombe, a property set deep amongst the Wiltshire Downs, for seven years during the 1930s. This chair was made by Beaton for his own bedroom, to complement the circus murals that were painted on a wet Sunday afternoon by his friends, many of whom were starlets and darlings of the 1930s. As Beaton describes in his memoirs, the room was decorated in the most outrageous of colours, with each of his friends responsible for different panels, featuring 'circus performers, baroque emblems, barley-sugar poles and flowered mirrors'. The bed was built by a company called Savages of King's Lynn, Norfolk, which built fairground roundabouts and other rides. The bed was a by all accounts a marvel with Father Neptune taking pride of place at the bed-head. The only disappointment was that 'the bed could not be made to revolve to the accompaniment of steam music'.
Buckle, Richard (Ed.), Self Portrait with Friends, The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton, 1926-1974, London 1974.
Buckle, Richard (Ed.), Self Portrait with Friends, The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton, 1926-1974, London 1974.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, leather and rope, with painted decoration |
| Brief description | English 1935 des. Sir C.Beaton prob. for Ashcombe |
| Physical description | Armchair; base/seat in the shape of a drum; seat and seat back upholstered in white leather; painted motif of two crossed drumsticks on seat back. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Twentieth Century Study Gallery label:
Armchair
Designed by Sir Cecil Beaton
Wood, leather and rope with painted decoration
About 1935
Possibly made for his own bedroom at Ashcombe, which in 1930 was transformed into a circus room by his house guests, all of whom painted the walls of the room. The painters included Rex Whistler, Lord Berners, Christopher Sykes, Oliver Messel, Yorck and Mme von Bismarck.(1989) |
| Historical context | In the summer of 1930, Sir Cecil Beaton transformed his bedroom at Ashcombe into a circus room. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Private |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Cecil Beaton lived in Ashcombe, a property set deep amongst the Wiltshire Downs, for seven years during the 1930s. This chair was made by Beaton for his own bedroom, to complement the circus murals that were painted on a wet Sunday afternoon by his friends, many of whom were starlets and darlings of the 1930s. As Beaton describes in his memoirs, the room was decorated in the most outrageous of colours, with each of his friends responsible for different panels, featuring 'circus performers, baroque emblems, barley-sugar poles and flowered mirrors'. The bed was built by a company called Savages of King's Lynn, Norfolk, which built fairground roundabouts and other rides. The bed was a by all accounts a marvel with Father Neptune taking pride of place at the bed-head. The only disappointment was that 'the bed could not be made to revolve to the accompaniment of steam music'. Buckle, Richard (Ed.), Self Portrait with Friends, The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton, 1926-1974, London 1974. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.54-1984 |
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| Record created | January 3, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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