Walnut side chair with drop-in rush seat.
Identifier
FPF045
Title
Walnut side chair with drop-in rush seat.
Date
1720-1740
Description
A walnut side chair with a high curved back, baluster-shaped splat, a rush drop-in seat and cabriole front legs.
Full Description
This walnut chair has a curved crest rail with a raised scroll in the centre, above serpentine back posts and a central splat, which is of baluster form with a pierced vase-shape at the top. The splat is inlaid with a marquetry cartouche, and is fitted to a shoe resting on the rear seat rail. The back legs are continuous with the posts, turned and with squared blocks at the seat joints and heels; the legs are raked and the heels flared. The rushed drop-in seat fits within plain moulded rails; the bottom edge of the front rail is shaped with an inverted double arch in the centre. The front legs are cabriole with moulded edges, terminating in pad feet. There is an H-stretcher, the side stretchers turned with squared blocks at the joints with the rear legs and medial stretcher, and round at the front legs; the medial stretcher is set asymmetrically and is flat and wavy. There is a higher back stretcher, also turned. The rush in the seat is old but probably not original.
The shaped back to this walnut chair was sometimes referred to in contemporary documents as ‘India-back’ or ‘bended back’. The reference to India relates to goods imported by the East India Company and in this case the chair back is influenced by particular Chinese chairs which had similarly shaped backs. The cabriole legs are also likely to have been influenced by Chinese examples, although the term is clearly French and the form was introduced in France before transferring to England by 1720. The baluster shape of the splat is a classical form, echoing early Grecian and Roman architecture. The splat and front seat rail are decorated with marquetry; very similar marquetry may be seen on a comparable chair at Erddig (see Bowett).
Overall this is a plain chair and the rush, or ‘matted’ drop-in seat indicates it would always have been relatively inexpensive compared to an upholstered chair, or even a chair with a caned seat. However it is well made, using walnut, which was the fashionable wood for good quality furniture at the time, and every part is skilfully shaped using a minimum of wood to create a light but strong frame. It would typically have been used as a dining chair and was no doubt supplied as one of a set. A squab cushion may have been added for comfort and to protect the rush seat. The rush seat here is unlikely to be the original, but it is old and a rare survival.
The shaped back to this walnut chair was sometimes referred to in contemporary documents as ‘India-back’ or ‘bended back’. The reference to India relates to goods imported by the East India Company and in this case the chair back is influenced by particular Chinese chairs which had similarly shaped backs. The cabriole legs are also likely to have been influenced by Chinese examples, although the term is clearly French and the form was introduced in France before transferring to England by 1720. The baluster shape of the splat is a classical form, echoing early Grecian and Roman architecture. The splat and front seat rail are decorated with marquetry; very similar marquetry may be seen on a comparable chair at Erddig (see Bowett).
Overall this is a plain chair and the rush, or ‘matted’ drop-in seat indicates it would always have been relatively inexpensive compared to an upholstered chair, or even a chair with a caned seat. However it is well made, using walnut, which was the fashionable wood for good quality furniture at the time, and every part is skilfully shaped using a minimum of wood to create a light but strong frame. It would typically have been used as a dining chair and was no doubt supplied as one of a set. A squab cushion may have been added for comfort and to protect the rush seat. The rush seat here is unlikely to be the original, but it is old and a rare survival.
Condition
In very good, original condition, with few repairs or restorations.
The H-stretchers are replacements.
It has been suggested the marquetry panel may have been a later addition.
The rush has been replaced, perhaps in the 19th century.
The H-stretchers are replacements.
It has been suggested the marquetry panel may have been a later addition.
The rush has been replaced, perhaps in the 19th century.
Materials
Walnut.
Marquetry possibly using holly or boxwood.
Rush.
Marquetry possibly using holly or boxwood.
Rush.
Physical Dimensions
H. 107
W. 56
D. 56
W. 56
D. 56
Marks
The back of the seat rail is stamped with the initials RR, possibly the joiner’s mark.
Parker Numbers
6166
Provenance
Purchased 12 September 1928 from C. Millar for £9.10.0, almost certainly Cecil Millar, antiques dealer of 30 Newman Street, London, the same street as Parkers’ showroom.
Notes
Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740, Antique Collectors’ Club 2009, p.163, Plate 4:37, for an illustration of this chair; for the Erddig chair see p.161, Plate 4:32.
