Hall chair, c.1840

Oak with painted decoration

This chair is one from a set of four designed by A.W.N. Pugin for his own use at The Grange, Ramsgate, Kent, and probably made by George Myers (1803–1875), London. The footless martlet, painted on the back, is a device from Pugin’s coat of arms. This chair was formerly in the collection of antiquarian Christopher Gibbs (b.1938).

Adam Bowett Catalogue   (16/08/2012)

Description

An oak hall chair, c.1840. The back is modelled as a quatrefoil with a sunk ground, painted with the Pugin family crest, over a rectangular boarded seat with a moulded edge, raised on shaped crocketted boarded ends joined by a shaped fore-and-aft stretcher fixed with tusked tenons, the lower part pierced with an ogival arch.

Dimensions

H: 40 ” (102cm) Seat height: 19” (48cm) W: 26 ½ “ (67cm) D: 26 ¾ “ (68cm)

Designer / Maker

A. W. N. Pugin (1812-1852) Designer

Materials

Oak

Construction

The chair is constructed in solid oak. The back is housed in a mortise in the seat. The two ends or ‘feet’ are similarly attached underneath. The back, seat and both ends are jointed up to width using slip tenons.

Marks or stamps

None

Condition

Condition is sound, well used and patinated with traces of original finish. The painted crest appears original.

References

Paul Atterbury (ed.), A W N Pugin – Master of the Gothic Revival, New Haven and London (1995), p. 353.

Provenance

Purchased H. Blairman and Sons, April 2001