Open armchair
attributed to Gillows of Lancaster
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1765
Materials
Mahogany, later upholstered in yellow silk
Measurements
98 x 59 x 49.5 cm
Place of origin
Lancaster
Order this imageCollection
Sizergh Castle, Cumbria
NT 998125.1
Summary
An open armchair, one of a set of six mahogany chairs, by Gillows of Lancaster, circa 1765, comprising two open armchairs and four standard chairs. Thought to be the set referred to in a letter of February 1765 to Charles Strickland, and attributed to Gillows by Susan Stuart on the basis of their close resemblance to a very similar chair, in the collection of Southampton University, which is signed 'Gillows' to the drop-in seat frame. Each with undulating toprail, the central arch flanked by a pair of small 'knobs', above a ribbon-carved pierced and Gothic-splat. The armchairs with curving arms on in-covered arms supports either side of a drop-in seat now upholstered in later yellow and cream silk damask and sitting in plain seat rails, raised on four square-section legs with chamfered inside edge, 'H'-shaped stretcher and rear stretcher.
Full description
An open armchair, one of a set of six mahogany chairs, by Gillows of Lancaster, circa 1765, comprising two open armchairs and four standard chairs. Thought to be the set referred to in a letter of February 1765 to Charles Strickland, and attributed to Gillows by Susan Stuart on the basis of their close resemblance to a very similar chair, in the collection of Southampton University, which is signed 'Gillows' to the drop-in seat frame. Each with undulating toprail, the central arch flanked by a pair of small 'knobs', above a ribbon-carved pierced and Gothic-splat. The armchairs with curving arms on in-covered arms supports either side of a drop-in seat now upholstered in later yellow and cream silk damask and sitting in plain seat rails, raised on four square-section legs with chamfered inside edge, 'H'-shaped stretcher and rear stretcher. The design of the splat to this set of chairs is reminiscent of, although not identical to, several designs in Thomas Chippendale's 1762 'Director'. The small 'knobs' which decorated the toprail and the edges of the splat are also found on the Southampton University chair signed 'Gillows'. The 'V'-shaped mitre joint with which the cross-stretcher is joined to the side stretchers has been identified by Susan Stuart as a constructional feature 'present on many Gillows chairs from the 1760s onwards.
Provenance
Probably supplied to Charles Strickland (1734 - 1770) by Gillows of Lancaster in 1765. Thence by descent, until given by Henry Hornyold Strickland (1890 – 1975) with Sizergh Castle and its estates in 1950.
Credit line
Megan Wheeler
Marks and inscriptions
Inside rear seat rail: I
Makers and roles
attributed to Gillows of Lancaster , manufacturer
References
Stuart, Susan 'Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730 - 1840' (2008) 2 vols., Vol. I., pp. 144 - 147 and illustrated Plate 88.