A pair of throne chairs and footstools, 1850-70, Baudh, Bengal

Pair of throne chairs and footstools of teak, covered with richly worked sheet silver, with later blue velvet upholstery.

Footstool IS.10:C-1983

Summary description
A four-legged stool with the upper surface upholstered and the structure of teak encased in silver.

Decorative Scheme
The carcass is encased in sheets of silver worked with vegetal motifs including scrolling grapevines and flowers on the apron and legs. In the centre of each side is a projecting lion's head. The four cabriole legs terminate in paw feet.

Structure and materials
The legs have a piece of wood at their core very thickly surrounded with an unidentified white filler. This is encased by sheets of silver, nailed at the top to the stool frame. The frame is teak and includes four rails with aprons, and a flat board. The silver sheets wrap a little way around the edges of the rails.

An upholstered board (not original) is attached to the stool with modern screws. The filling is vegetable fibre and the cover is turquoise cotton velvet, the surface buttoned. The velvet is fastened to the underside of the board with steel nails. Decorative cord is glued to the lower edge of the cover.

Note on technique
It is not possible to be absolutely certain about the technique used in making the silver cladding. Examination of the footstool suggests that the most likely method to have been used is shaping the silver sheets by repousse-work then attaching them to the wooden frame. However, a technique exists in India of overlaying and hammering down sheets of silver onto a previously carved wooden frame to give the silver its shape, and this cannot be completely ruled out. A combination of the two techniques is also possible.

Later interventions/changes
The upholstery is not original - the upholstered board appears to be a later addition. The original upholstery was probably tacked to the edge of the stool frame. It probably had a stitched edge and could have been red in colour.

During the 19th century Indian rulers increasingly began to use objects of Western inspiration. The design of this pair of state chairs follows British Victorian prototypes, adopted as they moved away from the gaddior textile floor-coverings and cushions traditionally used in many regions as thrones, although thrones of wood clad with precious metal also had indigenous antecedents. These state chairs are in the Rococo Revival style which became fashionable for furniture in Britain in the 1820s and spread quickly to France and America. By the mid-century this style was often used in Indian palace furniture. It is not certain however whether the technique is a purely Indian method of covering wood carved in high relief with silver sheet or whether the silver was worked in repousse and then attached to the wooden core.

In South Asia it was an ancient convention to cover royal objects with gold and silver, which were not only valuable materials but also considered to be pure and worthy of kings. Thrones and royal furniture were typically covered with precious metals and sometimes even embellished with gemstones. The design of this chair and its pair follows British Victorian prototypes and reveals how, in the 19th century, Indian princes began to adopt western-style furniture, and with it the custom of elevated seating. Although the place of production of these chairs cannot be confirmed, the pair of peacocks on the back resemble the cipher of the royal house of Baudh. This former princely state was in the Bengal Presidency (one of the provinces of India under British colonial control) but today is geographically located in the modern Indian state of Orissa.

IS.10 to C-1983