Charles II Carved Walnut Caned Armchair

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About the Item

Provenance: Swinfen Hall, Lichfield, Staffordshire, until 1949. With down-curved or ‘compassed’ moulded arms, carved at the shoulder and the terminal, and the terminal itself scrolled over in a leafy whorl. With a twist-turned frame and carved horsebone scrolls bordering the back panel. The caned oval back panel is framed by an arched top rail, inversely carved bottom rail and narrow upright sides, all carved and set between spiral-twist back stiles which end in turned vase-and-ball finials. The back panel itself is unusual, being curved rather than rectangular. With a carved crest rail. The caned seat rests on spiral turned legs joined by a carved double S scroll fore-rail, echoing the top rail and H-form spiral stretchers below. Adam Bowett explains that the words used to ‘describe the carved foliate decoration which characterizes Carolean chairs from about 1675 onwards’ were ‘cutt’ or ‘wrought’ with ‘scrowles’ (Adam Bowett, ‘English Furniture 1660 – 1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne’ (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2002, p.88). This chair features the oval back, which was introduced in the 1680s. This makes it a rare example as, at this time, the twist-turned chair was ‘nearing the end of its fashionable life’ (Bowett, p.230). Bowett notes that the horsebone scrolls, which are carved into the frames of the back panel, lend themselves to the oval shape. He comments: ‘Because oval backs were not introduced until twist-turned frames were becoming passé, the combination of oval back and twist-turned frame is actually relatively uncommon in England.’ (Bowett, p.230). For a similar example see Bowett, ‘English Furniture 1660–1714’, Plate 8:1, p.231. Adam Bowett states that: ‘The rise of the caned chair manufactory was one of the great success stories of English furniture making’ (p.22). Both the technique and the material of caning came from the Orient, with the ‘cane’ being made from the trailing suckers of the Rotang or Rattan cane (Calamus rotang), a plant native to Asia. The suckers were split to produce long, narrow strips, which were very robust and easily pliable when damp or green. According to the London Cane-Chairmakers’ petition of 1690, caning for seat furniture did not come into fashion until ‘about the year 1664’ (p.84). Inspired by Chinese prototypes, English caned chairs quickly established their own stylistic and structural vocabulary, and became a distinctively English product (Bowett, pp.22-23; 84-8). In her book ‘The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery’, Lucy Wood compares a Dutch chair in the Lady Lever Art Gallery to a caned walnut armchair in the Rijksmuseum, dated 1650 – 1700, which is similar to our chair (Object number: BK-NM-4150). She suggests that this form of chair: ‘conforms to a type that R.W. Symonds argues, as long ago as 1923, was distinctively Dutch rather than English.’ She points out that: ‘all the typically – though by no means exclusively – ‘Dutch’ features that he picked out are here: the oval rather than rectangular caned panel in the back..; the absence of any stretcher between the back legs; the carved laurels on the seat rails; a coronet of a type quite different from the crown usually featured in the English ‘boyes and crown’ motif…’ (Lucy Wood, ‘The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery: Volume I’ (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2008), p.113). The ‘Carolean Period’ took place between, circa 1670-1690. With the Restoration, after Charles II had been put back on the throne, the resulting Carolean Style was the English response to the excitement of Baroque, in contrast with Puritan plainness. Walnut was predominant. Caning was the most prevalent element of Carolean seating furniture, and the popularity of caned chairs created a new and thriving industry in England. Bibliography: Adam Bowett, ‘English Furniture 1660–1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne’ (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2002). Lucy Wood, ‘The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery: Volume I’ (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2008). Swinfen hall: The manor of ‘Swynfeyn’ is first recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as belonging to the Bishop of Lichfield, and a manor house has stood on this site since Medieval times. The present Hall was completed in 1757 under the direction of local architect Benjamin Wyatt, the founder of one of the greatest architectural families in English history. The Hall was originally built for Samuel Swinfen, his wife and a domestic staff of 55. The most colorful character among the Swinfen dynasty, was Patience Swinfen, a former parlour maid who had married into the family. In the 1860s she inherited the Hall, but the will was fiercely contested by another branch of the family. Seven long years of litigation followed and Patience became renowned, disturbing the Victorian convention that women should be subservient, modest and discrete. The last of the family to live at Swinfen Hall was Lt Colonel Michael Swinfen Broun who built the South wing, including the Ballroom, for his daughter’s 21st birthday. It took three years to complete; however the celebrations never took place as his daughter eloped two weeks before the big event. He died in 1948 leaving the proceeds of the estate to the Cathedral and city of Lichfield. The surrounding land was subsequently sold and the Manor House stood empty for over 30 years. The hall was purchased in 1987 and opened as a hotel after ten months of restoration and refurbishment. For further information about the history of Swinfen Hall, see ‘The Great Swinfen Case’ by Howard Clayton (Regency Press, 1980).

Dimensions:
Height: 46.5 in (118.11 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Walnut,Caning
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
1680-1689
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1680
Condition:
Seller Location:
Sutton Coldfield, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 62941stDibs: LU122325104273

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