Walnut side chair with marquetry splat and drop-in seat.
Identifier
FPF058
Title
Walnut side chair with marquetry splat and drop-in seat.
Date
1720-1735
Description
Walnut side chair with ‘bended’ back and baluster shaped marquetry splat, cabriole legs and a drop-in upholstered seat.
Full Description
This walnut side chair has a concave crest rail which is raised and scrolled in the centre, above curved back posts and central baluster splat. The splat is veneered and inlaid with chevron stringing around the edge in contrasting light and dark woods, possibly holly and ebony, and a star-shaped motif in the centre. The splat fits into a shoe on the rear seat rail, which is unusually deep. The back legs are squared cabriole in form. The seat rails are narrowed between the legs to give an appearance of lightness; they are beech, veneered in cross-banded walnut, with a strip along the top edges to retain the drop-in upholstered seat and a cock-bead moulding to the lower edges. The front legs are squared cabriole, ending in spade feet. There is an H-stretcher with wavy, squared and moulded sides, while the medial stretcher is asymmetric, flat and curved.
Chairs with serpentine backs were referred to in the early 18th century as either ‘India back’ or ‘bended back’. The earliest documented chairs with this feature are at Canons Ashby, recorded in 1717 (Bowett, 2009). The curved back was a remarkable feature when it was introduced, because up to this point English chairs had straight backs, either upright or raked at a slight angle. The shape was copied from Chinese chairs, imported by the East India Company, hence the term ‘India back’.
The cabriole legs were described at the time as either ‘French’ or ‘claw’ feet. Another set of chairs at Canons Ashby, made by Thomas Phill in 1717, are the earliest documented English chairs with this form of leg (ibid). However, the baluster splat is a slightly later feature, suggesting this chair would have been made in the late 1720s or early 1730s.
For similar chairs in the Collection see FPF045, 050, 056, 059, 066 and 070.
Chairs with serpentine backs were referred to in the early 18th century as either ‘India back’ or ‘bended back’. The earliest documented chairs with this feature are at Canons Ashby, recorded in 1717 (Bowett, 2009). The curved back was a remarkable feature when it was introduced, because up to this point English chairs had straight backs, either upright or raked at a slight angle. The shape was copied from Chinese chairs, imported by the East India Company, hence the term ‘India back’.
The cabriole legs were described at the time as either ‘French’ or ‘claw’ feet. Another set of chairs at Canons Ashby, made by Thomas Phill in 1717, are the earliest documented English chairs with this form of leg (ibid). However, the baluster splat is a slightly later feature, suggesting this chair would have been made in the late 1720s or early 1730s.
For similar chairs in the Collection see FPF045, 050, 056, 059, 066 and 070.
Condition
Restoration to bottom of splat, back legs and stretchers.
Crest rail possibly replaced.
Cock-bead missing from front seat rail.
Drop-in seat re-covered in the 20th century.
Crest rail possibly replaced.
Cock-bead missing from front seat rail.
Drop-in seat re-covered in the 20th century.
Materials
Walnut, solid and veneer, with marquetry probably in ebony and holly.
Beech.
Upholstery.
Beech.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 114
W. 56
D. 56
W. 56
D. 56
Parker Numbers
Painted under seat rail: 58/3727.
Plastic label inside seat rail: OM 3727.
Plastic label inside seat rail: OM 3727.
Provenance
Purchased by Frederick Parker & Sons pre-1914, from Adamson for £2.5.0.
Notes
Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740, Antiques Collectors’ Club, 2009, p.157, Plate 4:24; for the Thomas Phill chairs see p.152, plate 4:12.
For the Chinese influence see Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, V&A Publications, 1997.
For the Chinese influence see Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, V&A Publications, 1997.
