Chair of turned and carved beechwood, japanned to imitate bamboo, with upholstery of painted rush

Chair of turned, carved and painted beechwood, simulating bamboo, the seat of rush, painted with stripes

Acquired through the generosity of H. E. Trevor, Esq., with the co-operation of some admirers of David Garrick

These chairs (W.25-29-1917) are related to the furniture supplied by Thomas Chippendale to David Garrick and his wife between 1768 and 1778 and for many years it was assumed that they came from Chippendale's workshop. However, in January-July 1786 Mrs Garrick was commissioning furniture from Charles Smith & Co., of Lower Grosvenor Street, London, including a set of six japanned chairs with rush seats, at a cost of £3.18s. In 1794, Mrs Garrick also bought '6 Neat Cottage Chairs with rush seats, moulded japann'd Bamboo' at a cost of 10/- each.

The chairs were part of a large donation of furniture from Garrick's bedroom (plus an additional press bed).Inventory numbers W.21 to W.32-1917. The bed had already been donated to the Museum (W.70-1916). In 1994 the Museum was also give one of the pair of small bookcases from this room (W.14-1994).

See Registered File 89/1363

Similar striped decoration is shown on a rush-seated chair in George Morland's stipple engraving 'The Farmer's Visit to his Married Daughter in Town', 1780.

This set of chairs (W.25-29-1917) were traditionally attributed to Chippendale, with the rest of the suite of furniture for Garrick. However, Garrick's accounts show deliveries of rush-seated chairs from Charles Smith & Co. in 1786 and from Pratt's of Kingston in 1794.

This chair is one of five from a villa at Hampton, on the Thames to the west of London. In the 1700s the villa belonged to the famous actor David Garrick and his wife. From about 1768 they commissioned furnishings from the well-known firm of Thomas Chippendale of St Martin’s Lane in London. Chippendale provided light, pretty, painted furniture, suited to a house that was designed for leisure and entertaining. An inventory made in 1779 recorded ‘six rush bottom Bamboo Chairs’ in the drawing room. Although these chairs match that description, they were probably made slightly later. In 1786 and again in 1794 the widowed Mrs Garrick bought more chairs like this from at least two different suppliers.

W.25-1917