Mahogany writing chair.

FPF149

Mahogany writing chair.

1770-1780

Mahogany writing chair with pierced splat back and drop-in seat.

This mahogany writing chair has a continuous back and arm bow, the crest raised and rounded and the arms flat and terminating in scrolls. The bow is supported on four turned posts rising from the legs, and there is a pierced and interlaced baluster splat in the back and a pair of turned columns under each arm, rising from the seat rail. The seat rail is curved to match the back and arm bow, and has a serpentine front. There is a drop-in seat covered in a 20th century green leather, now faded to brown. The chair is raised on square-section chamfered legs joined by cross stretchers.

The design of this chair, with its shallow seat, allows it to be drawn up close to a table or desk, for use in a study or library. Its development illustrates the ingenuity of chair-makers, who were adapting fashionable designs to create different and useful forms of seating. See FPF297 for an example of a library, or reading chair.

Repair to front seat rail at right hand end.
Splat may be replaced.
Front right leg replaced.
Front left leg repaired at joint with seat rail.
The seat frame is strengthened with iron brackets.
The leather cover for the drop-in seat is cracked with friable tears.

Mahogany.
Ash seat rails.
Upholstery.

H. 79
W. 69
D. 48

The front seat rail is incised ‘4’.

OM 6236.

Purchased by Frederick Parker & Sons prior to May 1930 (A63).