An oval-backed chair of painted beechwood, the frame carved with neo-classical motifs, the seat and back fully upholstered, the frame with several layers of painted decoration, much decayed.

An oval-backed chair of beechwood, the frame carved with neo-classical motifs, the seat and back fully upholstered, the frame with later, much decayed, painted decoration.
The turned, tapering legs are fluted above peg feet, below a waisted, collared section just below the rectangular blocks at the level of the seat rail, which are carved on their visible faces with floral paterae (rosettes) on a recessed ground, within a plain frame. The back legs are slightly splayed to either side. The seat rail is a perfect oval in plan, the outer face, between the blocks, carved with vertical fillets in a regular pattern on a recessed ground, between mouldings at the top and bottom of the rail. The back is oval in elevation and curved in plan, with an outward curve also in elevation. It is raised on two short supports (continuations of the back legs) carved with upright foliage wrapping the front and side faces. The moulded frame is carved at the top with two roses. The upholstery is in blue-green damask, of cotton or rayon, with a small, repeating pattern. This probably dates from the period 1920-1940. The upsholstery is edged with close-nailing, with brass-headed nails, very flattened on top (as English brass nails are, in contrast to French nails, which show greater doming). At the top of the back the tacks have been removed to explore earlier layers of the upholstery. The immediate under-layer is a printed cotton, with flowers and leaves, now generally orangey in tone (originally much lighter and more varied in colour) on a dark green ground. This is edged with a plain, lézarde (serpentine) gimp (braid). The outside back is still covered in this floral cotton, which probably dates from 1880-1920. The woodwork of the chair has been painted on at least two occasions and is currently in black over an earlier scheme in red and ochre. Under this there is a layer of blue-green, with some tonal differences marking mouldings and other details. The original scheme is difficult to discern without scientific analysis but it is possible that the chair was in waxed beech only. The underside of the lower rail of the back is completely unpainted, which may support that idea.
The stamp of the maker is under the back rail. It is approximately 6.8 cm in length.

Construction
The chair is of standard construction, with the four curved seat rails tenoned into the blocks on the legs. The back legs continue to form the sides of the oval back, with the top and bottom rails of the back tenoned between then. The joint between the back uprights and the top rail are single-pegged.

Upholstery
The upholstery structure lies under at least two covers. It would repay a proper conservation analysis, including examination with a borescope. Lucy Wood, in 2006, noted that there are several different paint schemes, and it is not easy to discern the order in which they occur, but possibly: pale blue the earliest; ochre yellow with a red stripe later; black the most recent. There appear to be one or two other blue schemes in between, but it isn't clear where these come in relation to the yellow and red layer.

The upholstery foundation comprises a radiating arrangement of English striped plain-weave webbing supporting a fine-woven plain-weave linen(?) base cloth. The webbing is arranged with five lengths crossing over each other in the centre and a single transverse length at the front (between the two front legs). Stitching runs around the perimeter indicating the presence of a lip. So this French chair would appear to have been upholstered in England, in the late 18th century or perhaps the early 19th.
The topmost cover is patched in the region of the Proper Right back upright, suggesting that older fabric may have been used and pieced out.

Condition
There is considerable worming on the seat rail all round. The blocks above the legs are reinforced inside the seat rial with glued linen. The blue/green paint layer lies over this, suggesting that it is not the first layer.

Bequest of Mme Yvonne de la Cruz-Froelich

Bequeathed to the Museum by Mme Yvonne de la Cruz-Frölich, Sunningdale (See Registered Files 62/3098 on Nominal File MA/1/L8), who had first offered pieces to the Museum in 1962. On her death a group of furniture was bequeathed (Museum numbers W.2 to W.5-1974).


Jean-Etienne Saint-Georges was born in 1723 and died 20 October 1790. He was the son of the Parisian menuisier (maker of carved furniture) Etienne Saint-Georges, who died in 1736. His mother continued the workshop in the rue de Cléry (at the sign of the ‘Grand Saint-Georges’) for about a dozen years after the death of his father and Jean-Etienne was granted his maîtrise (mastership) in 1747, after which he took on the direction of the workshop. He was closely allied to the more famous menuisier Claude I Sené (1724-1792), who had married his sister, but each retained his individual style. Jean-Etienne Saint-Georges married the daughter of a menuisier, Destrum. Jean-Etienne's stamp, which was used to mark his furniture, differed from that of his father, including the initials of his forenames. He worked a great deal for the marchands-merciers (the dealers in luxury goods) and for upholsterers, rather than selling his work directly to clients. The early products of his workshop were in the Louis XV style used by his father and in the Transitional style, but much of his work (like this chair) was in the Louis XVI or neo-classical style. He did not have a keen business sense and eventually Sené separated his interests from Saint-Georges. In 1780 Sené went his own way and shortly afterwards Saint-Georges declared himself bankrupt, but he continued to make furniture until his death. Some of his finest chairs are in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg.

Parisian furniture makers followed one of two trades. Ébénistes (cabinet-makers) concentrated on making veneered furniture such as tables and commodes, while menuisiers made carved furniture such as beds, chairs and screens. The training of the two trades was entirely different and before the French Revolution it was forbidden to someone trained in one tradition, to make pieces in the other. Jean-Etienne Saint-Georges (1723-1790) was the son of a menuisier who worked in the rue Cléry, the main street for such workers in Paris. The younger Saint-George was closely allied to a better known menuisier, Claude I Sené, who had married his sister. However, Jean-Etienne was not a good businessman and the two finally parted ways. Soon afterwards, Jean-Etienne declared himself bankrupt.
This chair, though now very shabby, was originally a very smart design. Surviving upholstery of this early date is always important for study as upholstery is often the first element of a chair to be changed and very little survives.

W.2-1974