Child's high chair
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1640 - 1660
Materials
Oak
Measurements
105 cm (H); 47.5 cm (W); 41 cm (D)
Place of origin
Salisbury
Order this imageCollection
Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire
NT 427609
Caption
Good furniture would be handed down through families so that future generations would benefit. There are references to chairs made especially for children in Tudor inventories but the earliest surviving examples date from the early 17th century. Chairs for children often copied adult chairs with cresting and brackets but with steps and sometimes retaining bars across the arms. The pattern of the back panel on the high chair is similar to the book press doors which are original to the house.
Summary
A joined oak child's high chair, English, probably Salisbury, mid 17th century. The back panel carved with a quatrefoil design incorporating fleur de lys and centred by a flower head, surmounted by a leaf and scroll carved crest. The shaped arms and plank seat raised in baluster turned legs and supports tied by stretchers, the chair incorporating a foot rest. Victor Chinnery discusses furniture from this region in 'Oak, the British Tradition' and illustrates several comparative examples demonstrating similar decorative techniques.
Provenance
Gifted to Woolsthorpe Manor in 2011.
References
Chinnery 1979, Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture: The British Tradition (ACC revised 2016), pp.448-454