Painted beech upholstered armchair with oval back.
Identifier
FPF200
Title
Painted beech upholstered armchair with oval back.
Date
1780-1790
Description
Painted beech upholstered armchair with oval back.
Full Description
This armchair has an upholstered oval back within a painted and moulded (probably beech) frame with stylised anthemion carving on the crest. The short arms have upholstered pads on the horizontals and terminate in scrolls, meeting down-swept supports which rise from the front legs. The supports are painted with husk pendants. The shaped stuff-over seat has a straight front above a seat rail with painted anthemion. The chair is raised on square-section and tapering front legs with square blocks at the tops, painted with paterae, and terminating in block feet. The legs are painted to simulate fluting. The back legs are square-section and raked. The chair has been entirely re-painted and the upholstery is replaced with a damask cover and braided trimming.
This type of chair was popular in Britain from the 1770s, and is typical of the neo-classical style adopted by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) and John Linnell (1729-96). The form derives from the French interpretation of Grecian style (goût grec) of the 1760s, characterised by severe rectilinear lines and Greek detailing. It remained popular in the 1780s and 1790s with designs featuring in Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (White, 1990).
On painted (or japanned) furniture, Hepplewhite stated: ‘For chairs, a new and very elegant fashion has arisen within these years, of finishing them with painted or japanned work, which gives a rich and splendid appearance to the minuter parts of the ornaments, which are generally thrown in by the painter. Several of these designs are particularly adapted to this style, which allows a frame-work less massy [sic] than is requisite for mahogany; and by afforting [sic., i.e. assorting] the prevailing colour to the furniture and light of the room, affords opportunity, by the variety of grounds which may be introduced, to make the whole accord in harmony, with a pleasing and striking effect to the eye’.
This type of chair was popular in Britain from the 1770s, and is typical of the neo-classical style adopted by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) and John Linnell (1729-96). The form derives from the French interpretation of Grecian style (goût grec) of the 1760s, characterised by severe rectilinear lines and Greek detailing. It remained popular in the 1780s and 1790s with designs featuring in Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (White, 1990).
On painted (or japanned) furniture, Hepplewhite stated: ‘For chairs, a new and very elegant fashion has arisen within these years, of finishing them with painted or japanned work, which gives a rich and splendid appearance to the minuter parts of the ornaments, which are generally thrown in by the painter. Several of these designs are particularly adapted to this style, which allows a frame-work less massy [sic] than is requisite for mahogany; and by afforting [sic., i.e. assorting] the prevailing colour to the furniture and light of the room, affords opportunity, by the variety of grounds which may be introduced, to make the whole accord in harmony, with a pleasing and striking effect to the eye’.
Condition
Re-painted and re-upholstered in the 20th century.
Back right leg is replaced, the other three have been re-tipped.
Metal brackets have been used to reinforce the back.
Back right leg is replaced, the other three have been re-tipped.
Metal brackets have been used to reinforce the back.
Materials
Beech.
Upholstery.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 95
W. 61
D. 64
W. 61
D. 64
Marks
Inscription: ‘D1160-12 MUNCASTER Cumberland’.
Parker Numbers
1091
Provenance
Not recorded (1993 record missing?)
Notes
Ed. E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, reprinted 2000, p. 105, A. Hepplewhite & Co., The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788, 1789), Plate 12.
