Chair of state
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1600 - circa 1625
Materials
Beech covered in cloth of gold, crimson and yellow silk damask with silk and gold passementerie
Measurements
133.3 x 83.0 x 51.0 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 129421
Summary
An X-framed beech wood throne-like armchair or chair of state, English, c.1600-1625 (or possibly 1661) with a very large cushion, all upholstered in gold, crimson and yellow silk damask with silk and gold passementerie. The back is divided into two panels by gold thread fringe and surmounted by egg-shaped finials. The chair of state is very similar to those made during the reign of James I, however, the canvas under the seat is stamped in black ‘HC 1661’ with a royal crown, clearly referring to the royal palace of Hampton Court. Emma Slocombe has argued that the ‘rare royal stamp [indicates] the year of an inventory rather than that of production’ (Slocombe 2014). A second, very similar X-framed chair of state at Knole upholstered in crimson damask rather than cloth of gold, is equally stamped on the canvas ‘HC 1661’ (129443).
Provenance
Presumably acquired as a royal perquisite by Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset in his capacity of Lord Chamberlain to King William III. Knole and the majority of its furniture were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust in 1946.
Marks and inscriptions
H.C.
References
Symonds 1945: R. W. Symonds, 'The Upholstered Furniture at Knole I', Burlington Magazine LXXXVI (May 1945): 110-15 Beard, 1997: Geoffrey Beard. Upholsterers and interior furnishing in England, 1530-1840. Bard studies in the decorative arts. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1997. Slocombe 2014: Emma Slocombe,'Ancient Furniture: The Display and Alteration of Upholstered Seat Furniture and Textiles associated with the Brown Gallery, Knole, in the Nineteenth Century', Furniture History L (2014): 297-325