Chair
E. G. Lister
Category
Furniture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Yew, textile with cotton canvas, wool embroidery, hessian, linen twill
Measurements
85 x 64 x 67 cm
Order this imageCollection
Westwood Manor, Wiltshire
NT 222295
Summary
Yew corner/study chair, George II. The square drop-in seat with plain deep rails is supported on three columnar legs ringed top and bottom above squared feet. The fourth, front, leg is of cabriole form with a hoof foot, the knee carved with foliage to the front and a scroll to the rear. The back comprises three columnar uprights matching the legs with two vase shaped splats supporting a semi-circular top rail. The seat now has a Lister needlework cover. Furniture to perform a specialised function, including that for writing, had been increasingly fashionable since the 'politer way of living' ushered in with the Restoration had made evidence of such activities de rigeur within interiors of any social aspiration, the niceties of early Georgian taste in no way reducing this. The period thus sees an increase in the presence of both a novel range of reading and writing furniture and the provision of libraries as rooms of fashion. This form of chair was introduced early in the century and neatly met with the demands of the times. With its angled seat projecting well beyond the arms it would be drawn right up to a table or bureau whilst still allowing space for the knees and, usually found singly, when not in use could be placed in a corner without disturbing contemporary requirements for symmetry.
Provenance
E.G. Lister collection
Makers and roles
E. G. Lister