A mahogany side chair with upholstered seat.
Identifier
FPF374
Title
A mahogany side chair with upholstered seat.
Date
1880-1900
Description
A mahogany side chair with a pierced splat and upholstered seat.
Full Description
This mahogany side chair has a rectilinear back with a reeded crest rail, which has raised foliate scroll carving in the centre and square blocks carved with roundels at each end. The tapering and moulded back posts each have a carved husk pendant at the top and an oval floret at mid-point. The pierced splat is vase-shaped with four moulded and foliate-carved splayed bars rising from a stepped base which forms the shoe. The posts are continuous with the square-section and flared back legs which terminate in squared block feet. The seat is tapered, with a serpentine front, and the stuff-over upholstery is covered with close-nailed leather. The chair is raised on tapering, square-section and panelled front legs with square blocks carved with roundels at the top and terminating in squared block feet. At mid-point on each front leg there is an oval floret to match those on the back posts. The chair appears to have been varnished. The webbing and base cloth are 19th century and the cover is leather, treated to appear aged.
This chair is a well-made late-19th century copy, possibly intended as a fake; it is very similar to a set of twenty dining chairs covered with red leather, together with two sofas en suite, supplied by Thomas Chippendale to Harewood House, Yorkshire, in c. 1770-71 (Gilbert, 1978). The model was probably made to a Robert Adam design, although no exact drawing exists in the Robert and James Adam Office Drawings held in the John Soane Museum, London. Variations of this model were supplied by Chippendale to Goldsborough Hall and Newby Hall, both in Yorkshire, also to Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, and to either Lansdowne House or David Garrick’s apartments in the Adelphi, London.
Although very similar to the Chippendale chairs, this version is slightly smaller overall than would be expected of a genuine 18th-century chair. However, the carving is of high quality and follows the Adam design accurately; one exception is the size of the carved scroll on the crest rail, which is too small. It would be instructive to study this chair alongside the Harewood House set; the back legs of the Harewood chairs were built up by an extra inch in the mid-19th century, presumably to suit the height of the dining table.
This chair is a well-made late-19th century copy, possibly intended as a fake; it is very similar to a set of twenty dining chairs covered with red leather, together with two sofas en suite, supplied by Thomas Chippendale to Harewood House, Yorkshire, in c. 1770-71 (Gilbert, 1978). The model was probably made to a Robert Adam design, although no exact drawing exists in the Robert and James Adam Office Drawings held in the John Soane Museum, London. Variations of this model were supplied by Chippendale to Goldsborough Hall and Newby Hall, both in Yorkshire, also to Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, and to either Lansdowne House or David Garrick’s apartments in the Adelphi, London.
Although very similar to the Chippendale chairs, this version is slightly smaller overall than would be expected of a genuine 18th-century chair. However, the carving is of high quality and follows the Adam design accurately; one exception is the size of the carved scroll on the crest rail, which is too small. It would be instructive to study this chair alongside the Harewood House set; the back legs of the Harewood chairs were built up by an extra inch in the mid-19th century, presumably to suit the height of the dining table.
Condition
The surface of the chair has been poorly finished with a varnish.
The front left foot has a corner broken off and is missing.
There are screw heads indicating a 19th century date.
The leather cover has been treated to look old.
The front left foot has a corner broken off and is missing.
There are screw heads indicating a 19th century date.
The leather cover has been treated to look old.
Materials
Mahogany.
Upholstery.
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 97
W. 51
D. 51
W. 51
D. 51
Parker Numbers
OM 1711
Provenance
In the Frederick Parker Collection prior to 1993.
Notes
C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, p. 90, fig. 146; vol. I, p. 201; vol. II, pp. 88-91, figs. 142-149.
