Wing-back armchair
manner of Thomas Roberts (fl.1686-1714)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1690
Materials
Walnut, beech, textile
Measurements
135 x 79 x 70 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire (Accredited Museum)
NT 435037
Summary
A walnut and beechwood upholstered wing-back armchair, in the manner of Thomas Roberts, London chair-maker (fl.1685-1714) circa 1690. The high shaped back with scrolled arms and loose cushioned seat, raised on tapering front pillar legs with large scrolled capitals joined by moulded shaped H stretchers and on fluted turned feet. The legs and stretchers of this chair are identical to the set of six side chairs (NT435036) in the Blue Bedroom at Belton.
Full description
Thomas Roberts (1685–1714) and Richard (1714–1729), at ‘The Royal Chair’, Marylebone St, London, joiners, chairmakers and carvers who provided much of the seat furniture for the royal household between 1685 and 1714. There are numerous examples of chairs that are attributed to the Roberts workshop including examples in the National Trust collection; a group of stools at Hardwick (NT 1127752) and a pair of armchairs (NT 1127753) which demonstrate the cross stretcher and pillar legs often associated with his work and which can be identified in this chair. (James Weedon August 2018)
Provenance
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Makers and roles
manner of Thomas Roberts (fl.1686-1714), chairmaker
References
Dictionary of British and Irish furniture makers online (1660-1840) FHS 2017 Bowett 2000: Adam Bowett, 'The English "cross-frame" chair, 1694-1715', The Burlington Magazine 142/1167 (June 2000): 344-352 Edwards, Ralph, 1894-1977 shorter dictionary of English furniture : 1964., p. 503, Figure 25 &p.504 Figure 28