Armchair
Francis Beville (fl.1813-1839) & William Barker (fl.1813-1839)
Category
Furniture
Date
1813
Materials
Carved wood, partly ebonised and gilded
Measurements
113 x 67 x 78 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139746.4
Summary
An armchair, circa 1813, ebonised and partly gilded, from a set of seven. Each chair has a rectangular back issuing slightly curved arms terminating in a scroll with acanthus carving, on scrolling supports, the legs consist of double scrolls joined by a front stretcher centred by a female mask and acanthus leaves. The rear legs joined to the front with an H stretcher. Two armchairs of the set are upholstered in black and red with black and grey fringing; five are upholstered in yellow satin and decorated with couched red cord. The present set was commissioned in 1813 by Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart, after the model of a very similar set of armchairs at Ham (NT 1140051.1-6) made circa 1675. The London cabinet makers and upholders Francis Beville and William Barker were commissioned to re-cover the set of 17th century armchairs and to make the present set of at least seven copies. Four of these were covered in crimson-embroided yellow satin, for the Yellow Satin Room, as in 1813 the bedroom was hung with new striped yellow silk.
Provenance
Acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002.
Makers and roles
Francis Beville (fl.1813-1839) & William Barker (fl.1813-1839), cabinetmaker Francis Beville (fl.1813-1839) & William Barker (fl.1813-1839), upholsterer
References
Rowell 2013: Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House, 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale University Press, New Haven & London 2013, p.368 Thornton and Tomlin 1980 Peter Thornton, and Maurice Tomlin. “The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House.” Furniture History, The Journal of The Furniture History Society Vol.XVI, 1980, fig 194