Upholstered chair, English, ca. 1730-1745, one of a set of six

The chair covers detached from the frames, seen in Textile Conservation, 8/6/2004.
Chair-back is inscribed on unworked canvas at bottom edge, 'Vennus et Adonnis'. At the top it has a central arch, rather small and with wide shoulders; the shoulders also have hollowed out corners, the concave curve longer than it is high. The narrow arch and wide shoulders suggest that the designer envisaged that a wide margin would be worked beyond the drawn arch, which would result in a wider arched top with narrower shoulders, much more characteristic of an early 18th-century chair-back. In fact both the back and seat are worked up to the edges of the design but not beyond, making no allowance for margins to fold over the edges of the back and seat frames. This is perhaps suggestive of an amateur working a design bought from a supplier, but not thinking of the requirements of upholstery. Could this be why the covers were used, apparently for the first time, on chairs of a later date (and smaller) than those they were evidently designed for?

Dimensions of back and seat covers (excluding unworked canvas):
Back:
Max H. 67 cm
Max W. 52.2 cm
W. of top arch 23.5 cm
W. of horizontal part of shoulder 8.7 cm
W. of concave end of shoulder 6 cm
H. of arch (from top to shoulder) 8 cm
Areas unexposed when on chair: 4 cm of arch at top; c. 2.5 cm at sides; c. 3 cm at bottom.

Seat:
Max W. at front (behind leg cut-outs) 61 cm
W. at front edge (within leg cut-outs) 51.5 cm
W. at back 54 cm
W. at back before loss of embroidery at corners c. 58--59 cm
Max D. 56 cm

Bequeathed by Lady W. S. Theobald. The conservation of the upholstery was generously funded by the Idlewild Trust

Not known
Made in England

This set of six chairs (W.14–19-1938) shares with W.12–13-1938 (which were also bequeathed by Lady Theobald) the use of needlework covers which were evidently worked for chairs of an earlier date; and as on those chairs this appears to be an 18th-century marriage – i.e. it is possible that these are the first and only covers to have been placed on the frames, and indeed that they had not previously been used on any other frames. See following extract from LMW’s forthcoming catalogue of Lady Lever upholstered furniture (entry on two chairs en suite with W.12–13-1938):

The V&A chairs were bequeathed to the Museum by Lady (Winifred Sarah) Theobald, the daughter of Thomas William Jackson,(1) and the second wife and widow of Sir Henry Studdy Theobald, K.C. (1847–1934).(2) Her will mentions a number of other pieces of furniture and pictures, at least some of which were evidently inherited, but does not reveal which of these came from her family and which from her husband’s.(3) Among the items that would appear to concern her own family are ‘my framed Bishop pedigree’, bequeathed to Mrs Zara Frith, and ‘my oil painting of the Bishop ancestor by Cornelius Jansen and the Chippendale easel on which it stands’, left to Miss Doris Wheler. Doris Wheler and her brothers Trevor and Francis Glynne Wheler were – with Zara Frith and one Robert de C. Tronson – Lady Theobald’s principal legatees. The Bishop connection came through the Whelers’ paternal grandmother, one Elizabeth Bishop (1820–1900) of ‘Grey’s Wood’ (i.e. Grayswood, near Haslemere) in Surrey.(4) Their earlier ancestry remains to be disentangled,(5) but – to judge by the portrait and its easel – it would appear that the Bishops at least were fairly prosperous in the 17th and 18th centuries, and might quite plausibly have commissioned this suite. However, it is equally possible that the two V&A chairs were recent purchases by the Theobalds themselves.


(1) He is listed in the Post Office London Directory from at least 1876 to 1900 as Thomas Wm. Jackson, stationer, POST OFFICE Receiving Ho. Money Order and Savings Bank, 24 & 25 Albion Street, Hyde Park. Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson (his widow?) is listed at the same address in 1902, and was still there in 1911. His will has not been traced.

(2) His will, proved 12 July 1934, makes no specific bequests except financial legacies, his wife being his residuary legatee. His estate was valued at £185,062 10s. 6d. gross, £174,122 17s. 4d. net.

(3) Her will was proved on 9 April 1938; estate valued at £137,571 6s. 7d. gross, £122,833 11s. 3d. net.

(4) For the relationships between the Whelers, see LDS, Ancestral File: Doris Laura (b. 1886), Trevor (b. 1888), and Francis Glynne (b. 1891) were the children of Francis Henry Wheler (b. 1848) and Sarah Jane, née Highett (b. 1854). Francis Henry’s father was another Francis Wheler, and his mother was Elizabeth Bishop ‘of Grey’s Wood’, who is said to have been born on 2 February 1820, but her parents are not named; she died 16 March 1900, at Southport, Lancashire, and was buried at Leamington, Hastings, 21 March 1900.
Robert de C. Tronson was evidently a relative of Sir Henry Jackson’s, whose will (see note ?) identifies one Hillam Tronson (Lady Theobald’s godson) as his nephew.

(5) There is apparently no close connection with the Wheler family of Otterden Place, Kent; still less with the Bisshopps of Parham Park, Sussex.

Object Type
This chair is part of a set of six. It has an upholstered seat and back which are covered with embroidery in coloured wool on canvas ground, with a walnut frame. Its back and seat depict two different scenes.

Materials & Making
Needlework in wool on canvas was considered to be the most durable form of upholstered seat covering, and was sometimes made by the ladies of the house. Contemporary book illustrations were used as sources for the needlework patterns.

Subjects Depicted
The back shows a pastoral scene: two figures in 18th-century costume. The seat shows a pair of birds under a flowering tree.

W.15-1938