Chair
probably Chippendale & Rannie (fl. 1754 - 1766)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1770
Materials
Mahogany and carved mahogany, watered silk
Measurements
95 x 56 x 58 cm
Place of origin
St. Martin's Lane
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959791.6
Summary
A chair, one of a set of six mahogany dining chairs, England, circa 1766, probably supplied by either Chippendale or Rannie (fl. 1754 - 1766) or Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner. With a finely carved serpentine toprail, terminating in carved acanthus above a pierced rocaille and riband-carved splat, pierced with a quatrefoil. The rear uprights moulded. The drop-in seat in plain seat rails and raised on finely edge-moulded square-section front legs and outswept rear legs, united by simple foot stretchers. Later upholstered in green watered silk. Two examples [NT 959791.5 & .6] with an 'F' stamped to the centre of the underside of the rear seat rail.
Full description
No documentary evidence, bill or order, survives to attribute these chairs to Thomas Chippendale, but the backs are after a design published in the 'Director' in 1754 as Plate XII, and in 1762 as Plates XIII and XIV. This set of chairs differs from the printed design in that they have a plain leg embellished only by simple spandrels; the printed designs feature richly carved cabriole legs. The Chippendale bills surviving at Nostell span the years 1766 - 1785; it is possible that these were supplied in 1765.
Provenance
Accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron Oswald (1916 - 1984), 1986.
Marks and inscriptions
Centre underside of rear seat rail: 'F' Inside rear seat rail: VI
Makers and roles
probably Chippendale & Rannie (fl. 1754 - 1766), cabinetmaker probably Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), cabinetmaker
References
Gilbert (1978): Christopher Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale (1978), 2 volumes., Volume I, p. 174; Volume II, p. 83, Plate 131