Stool
possibly P. Revell (fl. circa 1845)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1845 (the frame and velvet; the embroidery 17th century)
Materials
Turned, joined, painted and parcel-gilt oak, 19th century velvet and 17th century silk embroidery
Measurements
70 x 53 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1127776.24
Summary
A stool, one of a set of twenty-seven pieces of painted, parcel-gilt and upholstered oak seat furniture, English, circa 1845, the brown velvet upholstery 19th century, but appliquéd with 17th century slips and motifs. The set comprising two open armchairs, one footstool, six stools and eighteen backstools. One of the set signed in pencil 'P. Revell 1845'. All previously catalogued as open armchairs, stools and a footstool of 'Farthingale' type. The stool with padded seat upholstered in brown velvet and decorated with embroidery featuring floral, foliate and insect motifs, the legs block and ring-turned, united by peripheral stretchers, painted brown and with gilt ring-turnings. This set was commissioned by the 6th Duke of Devonshire in 1845 to replace originals, probably of the 1630s. There is an entry in the account book of Christian, Countess of Devonshire, in the year 1635, when payment was made to 'George Savage the Imbroyderer' for seven weeks' work on the 'purple embroydered suite'. An armchair, a backstool, a stool and the footstool from the original suite appear in a drawing by S. H. Grimm of 1785. The set was noted by a visitor to the Hall in 1794. By the 6th Duke's time, apparently the velvet and the frames were in poor condition, were replaced and the needlework re-applied to new velvet.
Provenance
Transferred to the National Trust from the Treasury in 1984.
Makers and roles
possibly P. Revell (fl. circa 1845), joiner possibly George Savage (fl. circa 1635), embroiderer
References
Boynton and Thornton 1971 Lindsay Boynton and Peter Thornton, ‘The Hardwick Inventories of 1601’, Journal of the Furniture History Society, Vol.VII, 1971, p. 11 and Plates 10 & 11