Open armchair
Edward William Godwin (1833 - 1886)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1880
Materials
Ebonised wood, cane, velvet
Measurements
83 x 51 x 51 cm
Order this imageCollection
Standen House and Garden, West Sussex
NT 1213957
Summary
An ebonised open armchair, English, after a design by E.W Godwin, circa 1880. The curved back with outer posts with finials and joined by three horizontal curved rails and a central vertical bar, the armrests raised on turned front supports, the caned circular seat with gold velvet cushion and standing on square tapering legs joined by an X-stretcher.
Full description
E.W. Godwin (1833-86) began his architectural career as a confidant of William Burges and throughout his short career produced furniture designs for a number of commercial furniture manufacturers, including William Watt (who published his 'Art Furniture' catalogue in 1877, which includes an image of this chair design) and Collinson & Lock. He was one of the first designers to be influenced by Japanese principles of design and became one of the best-known designers of the new Aesthetic movement. The V & A Museum has an example of this chair in their collections (No: circ.643-1962) known to have been supplied by Collier & Plucknett of Warwick (it bears a label), for the M.P. William Kenrick for his new house in Harborne, Birmingham. See also another example at Standen (NT 1214028) which has a different stretcher arrangement; it is that chair with the high curved stretchers which is closer to Godwin's (much copied) original design.
Makers and roles
Edward William Godwin (1833 - 1886), designer