Mahogany open armchair frame.
Identifier
FPF494
Title
Mahogany open armchair frame.
Date
1930-1940
Description
Mahogany open armchair frame made by Parker Knoll.
Full Description
This armchair frame has a tall sloping back with a serpentine crest rail. The back posts are continuous with the back legs. The arms are curved and terminate in scrolls, with down-swept supports meeting the side rails. The tapered seat is raised on moulded front legs with brackets, and flared back legs, joined by an ‘H’-form stretcher.
This chair frame was made by Parker Knoll as the prototype for the PK314 range.
This type of open-sided armchair with upholstered back and seat was sometimes described in the early-mid 20th century as a ‘Gainsborough Chair’. Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) referred to the model as a ‘French’ chair in the third edition of his Director (1762), and this term was in use during the 19th century.
This design is comparable to that used by Edward VIII for a speech broadcast to the nation in 1935, which was model number PK115 (Bland, 1995).
This chair frame was made by Parker Knoll as the prototype for the PK314 range.
This type of open-sided armchair with upholstered back and seat was sometimes described in the early-mid 20th century as a ‘Gainsborough Chair’. Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) referred to the model as a ‘French’ chair in the third edition of his Director (1762), and this term was in use during the 19th century.
This design is comparable to that used by Edward VIII for a speech broadcast to the nation in 1935, which was model number PK115 (Bland, 1995).
Condition
Frame only.
Materials
Mahogany.
Physical Dimensions
H. 91
W. 60
D. 51
W. 60
D. 51
Marks
Marked on outside of front seat rail: 'PK314'. Printed wooden plates on the inside of left and right seat rails: 'Registered trademark Parker-Knoll High Wycombe England'
Parker Numbers
PK314.
Provenance
Purchased for the Collection, 16 June 2016.
Notes
Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, 3rd Edition, London, 1762.
Stephen Bland, Take a Seat, The Story of Parker Knoll 1834-1994, Parker Knoll, 1935, p. 84
Stephen Bland, Take a Seat, The Story of Parker Knoll 1834-1994, Parker Knoll, 1935, p. 84
