Japanned beech and papier-mâché side chair.
Identifier
FPF412
Title
Japanned beech and papier-mâché side chair.
Date
1850-1870
Description
Japanned beech and papier-mâché side chair with caned seat.
Full Description
This chair has a moulded papier-mâché back and a wood (probably beech) frame from the seat down, all japanned in black, inlaid with shells and decorated with gold paint. The back is spoon shaped and has a vasiform splat, probably moulded as one piece in papier-mâché, around a wood frame to provide strength. It is morticed into the back of the caned seat, which has tapered and rounded rails; the front rail is bowed. The chair is raised on faceted cabriole legs at the front, and oval-section flared legs at the back. There are plain turned stretchers at the sides and back, while the front stretcher is also turned but with a hexagonally faceted and decorated centre block. The black japanning is finished to high gloss and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone, and is painted with gilt arabesques.
Papier-mâché is the French term for paper pulp. It was introduced into Europe in the 17th century from Persia and the East. By the 19th century, there were two varieties of the material both of which bore the same name. The first technique was to paste sheets of paper onto an iron or brass mould allowing each layer to dry before applying the next. The second, and more common, was to reduce the paper into a pulpy substance and pack it into a mould of the desired form. In both methods, reinforcements with wire or other material might be required (Gloag, 1991). This chair is a good example of the fashion for papier-mâché furniture in the mid-19th century.
One of the most renowned and highly skilled firms in the manufacture of papier-mâché wares was Aaron Jennens & T.H. Bettridge (fl. 1815-1864). In 1825 they took out a patent for ‘working pearl shell into various forms, for applying it to ornamental uses in the manufacture of paper and other wares’, and between 1825 and 1830, invented a process for softening boards by steam and shaping them in moulds to create chairs, tables and caskets. Originally based in Birmingham, by 1837 they had set up a London shop at 3 West Halkin Street, Belgravia and two years later had offices in Paris and New York. They exhibited the ‘Day Dreamer’ armchair at the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Illustrated Exhibitor, 1851).
Queen Mary (r. 1910-36) was a collector of late Georgian and Victorian papier-mâché. Part of her extensive collection is in her Black Museum at Frogmore House, Windsor (Cornforth, 1991).
Papier-mâché is the French term for paper pulp. It was introduced into Europe in the 17th century from Persia and the East. By the 19th century, there were two varieties of the material both of which bore the same name. The first technique was to paste sheets of paper onto an iron or brass mould allowing each layer to dry before applying the next. The second, and more common, was to reduce the paper into a pulpy substance and pack it into a mould of the desired form. In both methods, reinforcements with wire or other material might be required (Gloag, 1991). This chair is a good example of the fashion for papier-mâché furniture in the mid-19th century.
One of the most renowned and highly skilled firms in the manufacture of papier-mâché wares was Aaron Jennens & T.H. Bettridge (fl. 1815-1864). In 1825 they took out a patent for ‘working pearl shell into various forms, for applying it to ornamental uses in the manufacture of paper and other wares’, and between 1825 and 1830, invented a process for softening boards by steam and shaping them in moulds to create chairs, tables and caskets. Originally based in Birmingham, by 1837 they had set up a London shop at 3 West Halkin Street, Belgravia and two years later had offices in Paris and New York. They exhibited the ‘Day Dreamer’ armchair at the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Illustrated Exhibitor, 1851).
Queen Mary (r. 1910-36) was a collector of late Georgian and Victorian papier-mâché. Part of her extensive collection is in her Black Museum at Frogmore House, Windsor (Cornforth, 1991).
Condition
The joint between the back left leg and seat is loose.
The seat is reinforced with a metal bracket.
Woodworm holes in seat rails (frame is possibly beech)
The cane appears original, with some damage.
Requires careful handling.
The seat is reinforced with a metal bracket.
Woodworm holes in seat rails (frame is possibly beech)
The cane appears original, with some damage.
Requires careful handling.
Materials
Beech (presumed) and papier-mâché, japanned and inlaid with shell.
Cane.
Cane.
Physical Dimensions
H. 80
W. 43
D. 44
W. 43
D. 44
Marks
Painted number on back left leg, ‘Y 946’.
Provenance
Purchased by the Frederick Parker Foundation in 2002.
Notes
J. Gloag, A Complete Dictionary of Furniture, revised and expanded by C. Edwards, Woodstock, 1991, pp. 491-92.
The Illustrated Exhibitor. A Tribute to the World's Industrial Jubilee; comprising Sketches, by Pen and Pencil, of the Principal Objects in the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, London, 1851, p. 345.
J. Cornforth, ‘If Objects Could Speak’, Country Life, 22 August 1991, p. 46.
The Illustrated Exhibitor. A Tribute to the World's Industrial Jubilee; comprising Sketches, by Pen and Pencil, of the Principal Objects in the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, London, 1851, p. 345.
J. Cornforth, ‘If Objects Could Speak’, Country Life, 22 August 1991, p. 46.
