Walnut side chair with balloon back and upholstered seat and back panel.
Identifier
FPF349
Title
Walnut side chair with balloon back and upholstered seat and back panel.
Date
1850-1870.
Description
Walnut balloon-back side chair with cabriole front legs and upholstered seat and back panel.
Full Description
This mid-19th century walnut chair with its balloon-shaped back is in the French rococo style. It is carved with acanthus leaves and scrolls, with asymmetric foliate scrolls in the crest rail and lower rail of the back, and floral motifs on the front seat rail and on the knees of the cabriole legs. The seat and back panel are upholstered, the covers being 20th century.
Chairs with balloon backs were introduced by Gillows of Lancaster to commemorate Vincent Lunardi’s attempt at a hot-air balloon flight from Lancaster Castle in 1785. The Gillow design incorporated a central splat inspired by the outline of the balloon, within a shield-shaped or oval back (Stuart, 2008). By the mid-19th century, the term balloon-back was used for any chair with a rounded back, and they were made in a great variety of styles and at different levels of quality and price. This example is relatively simple, well-made and elegant, and would have suited a middle-class household.
This is one of a very few Victorian chairs in the Collection; when it was acquired by Frederick Parker in 1912, Victorian styles were very much out of fashion.
Chairs with balloon backs were introduced by Gillows of Lancaster to commemorate Vincent Lunardi’s attempt at a hot-air balloon flight from Lancaster Castle in 1785. The Gillow design incorporated a central splat inspired by the outline of the balloon, within a shield-shaped or oval back (Stuart, 2008). By the mid-19th century, the term balloon-back was used for any chair with a rounded back, and they were made in a great variety of styles and at different levels of quality and price. This example is relatively simple, well-made and elegant, and would have suited a middle-class household.
This is one of a very few Victorian chairs in the Collection; when it was acquired by Frederick Parker in 1912, Victorian styles were very much out of fashion.
Condition
Re-covered in the 20th century.
Materials
Walnut.
Upholstery.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 91
W. 48
D. 53
W. 48
D. 53
Parker Numbers
1695
Provenance
Purchased by Frederick Parker on 20th June 1912 for 10 shillings.
Notes
Susan Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, Antiques Collectors’ Club, 2008, Vol. I, p. 166.
