A mahogany oval-back side chair with upholstered seat.
Identifier
FPF209B
Title
A mahogany oval-back side chair with upholstered seat.
Date
1785-1800
Description
A mahogany oval-back side chair with upholstered seat, one of a pair.
Full Description
This mahogany chair has an oval back frame which is channel-moulded on the front and side faces enclosing a pierced splat of six flared struts carved with leaves, centred by a pierced and moulded oval with a central patera and radiating petal shapes. The back frame is continuous with the back legs. The chair has a stuff-over seat and is raised on square section tapering and fluted front legs with paterae in panels at the top and with acanthus leaf carving on the toes. The back legs are square-section and raked. The blue striped cover and brass-headed upholstery nails are early 20th century.
The back of this chair is virtually identical to one in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (W.68-1935; Tomlin, 1982). The initials ‘I.D.’ are stamped underneath the back seat-rail of the Victoria & Albert chair identifying the maker. A design for a related chair by Gillows of Lancaster and London, created for the Revd. J.D. Carlyle in July 1786, is in Stuart, 2008. A made-up example of this design is a pair of chairs with Norman Adams Ltd. (ibid.). It was customary for Gillow’s journeymen to stamp their initials on their work, and it is possible that the Victoria & Albert comparable was made by Gillows – although the initials are not in the list of Gillow apprentices, workmen and tradesmen published by Stuart (ibid.). Another related chair is illustrated in Edwards, 1954 (provenance Victoria & Albert Museum). A further set of twelve side chairs was sold by Sotheby’s Olympia, 5 September 2002.
The back of this chair is virtually identical to one in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (W.68-1935; Tomlin, 1982). The initials ‘I.D.’ are stamped underneath the back seat-rail of the Victoria & Albert chair identifying the maker. A design for a related chair by Gillows of Lancaster and London, created for the Revd. J.D. Carlyle in July 1786, is in Stuart, 2008. A made-up example of this design is a pair of chairs with Norman Adams Ltd. (ibid.). It was customary for Gillow’s journeymen to stamp their initials on their work, and it is possible that the Victoria & Albert comparable was made by Gillows – although the initials are not in the list of Gillow apprentices, workmen and tradesmen published by Stuart (ibid.). Another related chair is illustrated in Edwards, 1954 (provenance Victoria & Albert Museum). A further set of twelve side chairs was sold by Sotheby’s Olympia, 5 September 2002.
Materials
Mahogany.
Upholstery.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 99
W. 58
D. 61
W. 58
D. 61
Parker Numbers
4623. 4317.
OM 4613. See Frederick Parker Archive, Box 55, FPA050, Page 114.
OM 4613. See Frederick Parker Archive, Box 55, FPA050, Page 114.
Provenance
Purchased by Frederick Parker & Sons, 18th October 1918 for £15.0.0
Notes
Chair | V&A Explore The Collections
M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, 1982, p. 135, P/12.
S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Woodbridge, 2008, vol. I, p. 174, Plates 135, 137; vol. II, pp. 229-233.
R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. I, Woodbridge, revised edition 1954, p. 299, fig. 235.
Sotheby’s Olympia, 5 September 2002, lot 87A, a set of twelve side chairs sold for £47,000.
This chair is on loan to No 1, The Royal Crescent, Bath. The pair is FPF209A
