FP 23
A turned and carved silvered beech upholstered single chair Queen Anne, circa 1710
Purchased in 1914 from Millar (probably Cecil Millar) for £25
The form of this chair and its silver leaf finish are in the tradition of silver furniture made during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when both silvered wood and solid silver furniture was made for the Royal Court and the aristocracy. The pillar front leg, the form of which even occurs on watch pillars at the time, was a fashionable style for important furniture and was used for the legs of cabinet stands and side tables, as well as chairs.
Furniture historians would previously have dated chairs of this style to 1685-1700, but Dr Adam Bowett's recent researches in the Royal Household Accounts have changed this. If it is reasonable to assume that the Royal Household was at the forefront of fashion, since there is no mention of 'spreading back feet' (which this chair has), in the Accounts prior to 1708, it now appears that we are looking at a Queen Anne chair. This feature of 'spreading back feet', raked for stability, became almost a signature of the English chair and it is almost certain that this example is English, although the circular ends to the H-form stretchers would previously have been considered evidence of Continental origin. However, recent research has shown that this feature also appears on some chairs known to have been made in England.
The tall, sloping back would have given this chair a very grand appearance as part of a large set, lined up along the walls of a splendid room of entertainment. The large area of upholstery would also have played an important part, both in appearance and cost. The present worn velvet covering dates from the late 19th or early 20th century, but the webbing and base cloth appear to be original. The absence of other tack holes would suggest that the chair originally had loose covers, which would allow them to be easily changed according to the season. A similar chair, probably with its original covering, is illustrated in the Dictionary of English Furniture (1954), vol. I, p. 253, fig. 81, and another, with similar unusual concave moulded legs, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (W71 - 1911), accessioned at about the same time as the Frederick Parker chair.
The beech frame of this chair is in sound and undamaged state and, although the silver leaf finish is in poor and flaky condition, probably due to gesso rot caused by damp, it remains a fine and important chair and very rare to have survived in the way that it has.