Chair
J. M. Willcox (c.1802 - 1859)
Category
Furniture
Date
1843
Materials
Walnut, hide, beech rails, brass cappings
Measurements
90.5 x 47 x 52 cm
Order this imageCollection
Scotney Castle, Kent
NT 790904.8
Summary
One of a set of eighteen walnut dining chairs, English, supplied in 1843 by J. M. Willcox. Each with a salmon hide square back and seat, the back uprights turned and carved with floral rosettes, the front legs of baluster outline and similarly turned and carved, all joined by an H-stretcher, the back feet with brass anti-rocking cappings.
Full description
An invoice among the Scotney Papers at Maidstone Record Office dated 1843 from J.M. Willcox includes '18 Walnut Dining Room Chairs', priced at £3. James Morris Willcox (c.1802-59) was a carver of exceptional talent and one of the group known as the Warwick School. He was employed by George Hammond Lucy to execute the carving in the new rooms at Charlecote, notably the Library. It is thought he also carved the set of eight chairs in this room, using as his model a 17th century armchair belonging to the Lucy family (NT 532981). His work there culminated in the Charlecote Buffet, or to give it it's full title 'The Fruits of the Land and the Ocean', delivered in 1858 and still in situ (NT 532965) and still referred to as one of the most extraordinary examples of Victorian craftsmanship.
Provenance
Part of the Hussey collection. The contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 2006 by Mrs. Elizabeth Hussey.
Makers and roles
J. M. Willcox (c.1802 - 1859), carver J. M. Willcox (c.1802 - 1859), gilder