A RARE ENGLISH OAK AND UPHOLSTERED X-FRAME ARMCHAIR, 17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY LATE 16TH CENTURY

Sotheby's London, Haute Epoque, 29 October 2008, lot 156.

For comparison see another very rare chair at Hampton Court which is reproduced by Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture, The British Tradition, Woodbridge, 1979, p. 127, fig. 2:130.

This chair is an incredibly rare survivor in the canon of English seat furniture. It forms part of a very small group of oak and upholstered furniture from the first half of the 17^th century and it is possible it may even date to the late 16^th century. The present lot may originally have been a folding chair but historic repairs over the centuries have over-ridden this function, if it ever did. It relates closely to a chair in the National Trust’s collection at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire (collection number NT1127424). This chair, originally folding, formed part of a group at Hardwick and is dated to circa 1585. There are further examples worthy of comparison at Knole in Kent, the Knole ‘Chairs of State’ are dated a little later but of a similar pattern, they feature original painted decoration and upholstery (collection number NT129443, NT129463, NT129415 and NT129419, the last adapted from a folding chair with the use of iron brackets). The present lot may well feature elements of its original contemporary upholstery. All the chairs in this important group feature some sort of split-knopped detail to the inside of each shaped leg.