Mahogany side chair with upholstered seat.
Identifier
FPF287
Title
Mahogany side chair with upholstered seat.
Date
1790-1800
Description
Mahogany side chair with a diagonal lattice splat and upholstered seat.
Full Description
This side chair has a moulded rectangular back with a foliate-carved tablet at the centre of the concave crest rail. A mahogany panel, cross-banded in satinwood and with narrow ebonised stringing, forms the top of a pierced splat, which has a moulded diagonal lattice with an arched top and oval paterae at the joints, and is flanked by turned and reeded columns either side. The tapering and moulded back posts are continuous with the square-section and flared back legs. The lower edges of the front and side seat rails are faced with thin channel-moulded mahogany slips, above which the cover of the stuff-over seat is nailed. The front columnar legs are turned and tapering, with ‘toupie’ feet (toupie is French for a spinning top). The stuffing and calico is possibly original, with later additional stuffing and silk cover.
This chair is probably after a design by Thomas Sheraton published in his The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, vol. II, in 1794, fig. 35. Sheraton did not invent the rectilinear chair back although its prevalence in his designs has led it to be associated with him (Edward, 1934). His designs often feature tapering, turned and reeded legs. For his ‘ordinary’ chairs, Sheraton recommended the use of Spanish or Cuban mahogany with a clear straight grain ‘which will rub bright, and keep cleaner than any Honduras wood’.
This chair is probably after a design by Thomas Sheraton published in his The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, vol. II, in 1794, fig. 35. Sheraton did not invent the rectilinear chair back although its prevalence in his designs has led it to be associated with him (Edward, 1934). His designs often feature tapering, turned and reeded legs. For his ‘ordinary’ chairs, Sheraton recommended the use of Spanish or Cuban mahogany with a clear straight grain ‘which will rub bright, and keep cleaner than any Honduras wood’.
Condition
The crest rail is repaired at both ends above the joints with the back posts.
The back left leg is replaced and the joint with the seat is loose, where a new lower section of the back post has been fitted.
The back right leg is supported with a metal brace.
The front and side seat rails are replaced in beech, part veneered in mahogany.
Silk top cover faded and torn with strips hanging off seat.
The back left leg is replaced and the joint with the seat is loose, where a new lower section of the back post has been fitted.
The back right leg is supported with a metal brace.
The front and side seat rails are replaced in beech, part veneered in mahogany.
Silk top cover faded and torn with strips hanging off seat.
Materials
Mahogany.
Satinwood.
Beech.
Upholstery.
Satinwood.
Beech.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 89
W. 51
D. 53
W. 51
D. 53
Parker Numbers
OM299/OM32. See Frederick Parker Archive, Box 55, Ms. FPA050, page 140.
Provenance
Not recorded but in the Collection prior to1993.
Notes
Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, vol. II, 1794, fig. 35.
R. Edwards, ‘Chairs of the Late XVIII Century’, Country Life, 6 January 1934, pp. 20-22.
R. Edwards, ‘Chairs of the Late XVIII Century’, Country Life, 6 January 1934, pp. 20-22.
