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Description: | In spite of its somewhat dishevelled appearance, this chair is a rare and important document of eighteenth century upholstery. Frederick Parker would have chosen it to show his workmen how fine upholstery of the period was carried out. But, as a chair, its fine broad proportions were also noted and, like a number of others in the Collection, it was chosen to be reproduced by the firm as stock model (PK 523) in 1939, as well as being copied earlier. The shape is an English interpretation of a French form of easy chair, of which Thomas Chippendale supplied a number of examples with gilded or japanned show-wood frames for important commissions such as Burton Constable and Harewood House in Yorkshire and the actor David Garrick's Thames-side villa during the 1770s. They were supplied as part of suites of various types of seat furniture for drawing rooms and other rooms of entertainment. Unlike the show-wood framed examples, this one, where the four legs would have been the only wood visible, would probably have originally had a loose cover which would have made it easier to change according to the season or the room in which it was used, bearing in mind that it was usual to choose upholstery fabric to match the curtains and general décor of a room. The loose cushion on the seat is also original. Fragments of a later nailed chintz cover are visible over the linen covering on the arms. On the cushion and the side cheek' pieces may still be seen loops of thread, probably originally attached to tufts on the visible surfaces, which would have held the curled horse-hair stuffing in place on the curves, thereby improving the shaping. The vertical rolls of upholstery inside the back would also have been stitched carefully in place. As a rule, up until the 1780s, English upholstery tended to be firmer with squarer edges than French, which better suited the neo-classical style. As on fpf123, the chair's open back allows inspection of its beech frame in a way that is rarely possible on upholstered furniture. It is interesting that in this concealed place there are signs of the use of second quality spalted timber. This is timber affected by a fungal disease that is shown by black markings. However the frame, like the upholstery, has stood the test of time well and is securely joined to the legs with finger joints to maximise the surface available for gluing | Source: | Vads | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=9118... | Go to resource |
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