Japanned beech armchair with bar back, scrolled arms and caned seat.

FPF316

Japanned beech armchair with bar back, scrolled arms and caned seat.

1800-1820.

Japanned and gilded beech armchair with curved and scrolled bar back and scrolled arms, caned seat and turned front legs.

This beech armchair has a scrolled and curved back with a panel of three splats of close-set vertical bars of rectangular profile above a horizontal bar set between turned uprights. The arms are scrolled on turned supports. The legs are turned and tapered and with the other turned parts have turnings to simulate bamboo.

The chair is painted, or japanned, black with gilded decoration, including a Greek key motif on the top rail and front seat rail and long leaves at the base of the uprights. This finish is original and is rubbed through to the bare wood on the arms where such wear would be expected.

The squared blocks at the base of the uprights and arm supports show the height that the squab cushion was originally intended to be. For a very similar armchair in the Frederick Parker Collection see FPF 299.

Two replaced seat rails.
A boss is missing from one end of the top rail.
The seat has been re-caned.
A squab cushion made in the 20th century was with the chair in 1993 but is now missing.

Beech.
Cane.

H. 86
W. 56
D. 62

6107

Purchased by Frederick Parker & Sons from Alan Walsh, 2 Sept. 1927 for £2.15.0

A black and gilded armchair in the V & A has similar Greek key decoration on the front rail and similar simulated bamboo legs (add ref).
See also Ralph Fastnedge, Sheraton Furniture, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1983, pl. 9.