Open armchair
manner of Henry Holland (1745 - 1806)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1805 - 1810
Materials
Gilt beech, beech, textile
Measurements
89 x 60.5 x 70 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 434872.2
Summary
One of a set of six giltwood and upholstered open armchairs, after a design by Henry Holland, architect and designer, London (1745-1806) circa 1805-1810.Each with a padded scrolled back with moulded frame continuing to scrolled arms with down-swept supports and padded elbow rests, the overstuffed seat with moulded and scroll carved seat rail, raised on sabre legs to the front and back.One chair with an indistinct pencil signature to the rear seat rail.
Full description
Henry Holland was one of the leading English architects of the period who designed interiors and furniture in both the French and the Greco-Roman styles and therefore a key figure in the introduction of late 18th century French Neo-classicism into English furniture design. After studying architecture he became the partner of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in 1771 whose daughter he married and with whom he built Claremont House in Esher, Surrey (1771-4). He was later employed by the Prince of Wales who took an avid interest in new architectural trends and in 1787 commissioned Holland to build the Marine Pavilion in Brighton (later re-modelled as the Brighton Pavillion) and Carlton House, London. This style is to be seen in the furniture at Southill, Bedfordshire designed for Samuel Whitbread, and also in the furniture made for Carlton House in the last years of the 18th century. Closely associated with Holland is Charles Heathcote Tatham (1771-1842) who's drawings and studies of ancient Rome and Greece became the inspiration for many of his designs. Margaret Jordain discusses Holland, his contemporaries and his commissions in more detail in 'Regency Furniture 1795-1820'. fig.7 illustrates a chair of his design which bears similarities to the set of six at Belton. The Southill designs, amongst others, can be found in a book of ‘office drawings’ in the library of the Royal Institute of British Architects.James Weedon (August 2018)
Provenance
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Makers and roles
manner of Henry Holland (1745 - 1806), designer
References
Jourdain, Margaret. Regency furniture 1795-1820 1948., fig.6