Japanned beech armchair with caned seat (originally with arms).
Identifier
FPF319
Title
Japanned beech armchair with caned seat (originally with arms).
Date
1790-1800
Description
Japanned beech armchair with gold painted decoration and a caned seat (originally with arms).
Full Description
This japanned (black painted) armchair with gold-painted decoration has a square concave back with turned and tapering back posts originally with finials (now missing) and three horizontal rails. The top two rails enclose a central tablet painted with a wreath and swags of husks or flowers. The lower rails enclose a diamond lattice splat painted with leaf capitals. The back posts are also painted with husks and are continuous with the back legs which are squared in the mid-section and turned, tapering and raked below. The seat rails are curved at the sides and tapering towards the back; the front rail is bowed and painted with a central panel of a patera, husks and trellis. The front legs are squared at the top and turned and tapered below with ring turnings near the tips. Arms were originally joined to the back posts just below the crest rail and would have had supports rising from the front legs.
This form of chair back can be compared to Thomas Sheraton’s ‘Backs for Parlour Chairs’ from his The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (published 1793, 1794, 1802) (White, 1990). In his The Cabinet Dictionary (1803), Sheraton noted regarding ebonising that: ‘pear tree, and other close grained woods have sometimes passed for ebony, by staining them black. This some do by a few washes of a hot decoration of galls, and when dry, adding writing ink, polishing it with a stiff brush, and a little hot wax’ (Gloag, 1991). In the Supplement to The Cabinet Dictionary, Sheraton devoted a full chapter to ‘Painting Furniture’ (ibid.).
This form of chair back can be compared to Thomas Sheraton’s ‘Backs for Parlour Chairs’ from his The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (published 1793, 1794, 1802) (White, 1990). In his The Cabinet Dictionary (1803), Sheraton noted regarding ebonising that: ‘pear tree, and other close grained woods have sometimes passed for ebony, by staining them black. This some do by a few washes of a hot decoration of galls, and when dry, adding writing ink, polishing it with a stiff brush, and a little hot wax’ (Gloag, 1991). In the Supplement to The Cabinet Dictionary, Sheraton devoted a full chapter to ‘Painting Furniture’ (ibid.).
Condition
Originally with arms, now removed.
The back right leg is replaced and supported by a metal bracket.
The caning is old, possibly original, with some damage.
The gold-painted decoration has been poorly over-painted.
Holes in the seat rails were possibly for fixings to keep the chair stable during transport.
The back right leg is replaced and supported by a metal bracket.
The caning is old, possibly original, with some damage.
The gold-painted decoration has been poorly over-painted.
Holes in the seat rails were possibly for fixings to keep the chair stable during transport.
Materials
Beech.
Cane.
Cane.
Physical Dimensions
H. 84
W. 55
D. 53
W. 55
D. 53
Parker Numbers
OM 165, pattern no. 1185. See Frederick Parker Archive, Box 55, Ms. FPA050, page 168.
Provenance
In stock with Frederick Parker & Sons prior to 1911 when valued at £1 10s.
Notes
ed. E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, 1990, p. 95, Appendix, Plate XXV, bottom right.
J. Gloag, A Complete Dictionary of Furniture, revised and expanded by C. Edwards, Woodstock, 1991, p. 310 and p. 489.
J. Gloag, A Complete Dictionary of Furniture, revised and expanded by C. Edwards, Woodstock, 1991, p. 310 and p. 489.
