Settee
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1760
Materials
Mahogany and flame-stitch seat
Measurements
98 x 124 x 53 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446444
Summary
A mahogany twin chair-back settee, English, circa 1760, in the Chinese Chippendale taste, with pierced back and undulating toprail with pagoda-like detail, the arms also with pierced splats, above a drop-in seat upholstered in flame-stitch and on simulated bamboo legs with corner spandrels.
Full description
The fashionable taste for all things Oriental in the third quarter of the 18th century led to commissions for ' Chinese ' chairs based on designs in Thomas Chippendale's ''Director'' (see plate 86 of the 1754 edition), with firms such as Gillows fulfilling orders for such chairs from their clients. See Susan Stuart 'Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840', ACC 2008, plate 87 for an armchair of similar design.
References
Stuart, Susan 'Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730 - 1840' (2008) 2 vols., plate 87