Sedan chair
Griffin & Co.
Category
Carriages & other vehicles
Date
circa 1806
Materials
Wood frame with leather panels and wool cloth upholstery.
Measurements
160 x 75.5 x 92.5cm (5ft 3in x 2ft 5 1/2in x 3ft 1/3in)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire
NT 1270737
Caption
The sedan chair at Shugborough House is a good example of how with certian motifs in the decoration an item can illustrate the fashion of the early 18th century. The Lily of the Nile and swag decoration on the stamped brass were motifs that not only appeared in the decoration of sedan chairs, but also on furniture, decorative arts and architecture of the early 18th century. The owner of this chair was clearly a keen follower of contemporary fashion and design.
Summary
Sedan chair built by Griffin & Co of Coventry Street, London, circa 1806. A ladies Westminster arch-roof sedan chair with highly polished and japanned black leather panels over a deal frame, upholstered in white woollen cloth. The initials AMA for Anne Margaret Anson, Viscountess Lichfield are on the rear panel.
Full description
A ladies Westminster arch-roof sedan chair with highly polished and japanned black leather panels over a deal frame. This chair is similar to several others that survive from the period of the Napoleonic Wars. It alludes to an exalted taste beyond that of a plain private Westminster sedan, by virtue of its additional ornamentation with the Water-lily of the Nile and carved gilt poles.
Provenance
The commission for this sedan chair may have read: Viscountess Lichfield, to build a ladies elegant and fashionable sedan chair, japanned and lightly polished panels, mounted with fancy pattern borders, roof valance (including water lily of the Nile or Lotus leaf) and elbow bands of drapery swag amd drop. Inside lin’d in super fine white wool. Cypher AMA in mantle with coronet. Carved gilt poles and straps, green baize cover. Price c. 50guineas.
Marks and inscriptions
Within cartouche beneath coronet.: A.M.A. (Anne Margaret Anson, Viscountess Lichfield)
Makers and roles
Griffin & Co., maker