Bonhams 1793 : An 18th century Anglo-Flemish walnut 'dolls' chair' retaining it's original upholstery

21 Nov 2012 14:00 GMT London, New Bond Street
Fine English Furniture
Back to auction 20027

An 18th century Anglo-Flemish walnut 'dolls' chair'

retaining it's original upholstery
The rectangular padded back within a studded metallic braid border and flanked by paterae carved spiral turned uprights, surmounted by turned finials and a pierced cabochon, dolphin and coronet cresting, the upholstered seat with metallic thread fringing on paterae carved spirally turned legs joined by spirally turned stretchers, 20cm wide, 20cm deep, 53cm high (7.5" wide, 7.5" deep, 20.5" high).

Estimate:

£4,000 - 6,000
€4,700 - 7,000
US$ 6,000 - 9,000

Footnotes

Provenance: Sotheby's, London 18 May 1990, Lot 26 as 'An Important Franco-Flemish Miniature Chair, circa 1685' (£4500 hammer)

Chairs of this small scale and period are extremely rare. Although often cited erroneously as 'apprentice pieces', the existence of two beech armchairs of this scale in The V&A Museum collection, with their accompanying late 18th century wooden dolls, makes the case for these 'miniature chairs' being intended for use as 'toys' all the more likely. The V&A examples (T.846Y-1974 and T.846V-1974) which accompany the celebrated Lord and Lady Clapham dolls (circa 1690-1700) follow the pattern of full sized chairs of the period. The chairs would almost certainly have been made by a professional chair maker and the construction techniques mirror those found on full sized examples from the period. The scarcity of surviving late 17th century dolls, although many were produced, may well reflect the few surviving miniature chairs. Other surviving period miniature chairs, including one of the 'Clapham' chairs are in poor condition implying the likelihood of them having been played with and hence the few surviving examples.

The Lord and Lady Clapham dolls are thought to have belonged to the Cockerell family who were descendants of Samuel Pepys. Pepys' nephew John Jackson married a Cockerell and the dolls were named 'Lord' and 'Lady' of the family home in Clapham. The remarkable condition of the Clapham dolls suggests that in this instance they may have been admired by adults rather than being played with by children and were viewed more as decoration for the home.

An early 18th century walnut 'dolls' chair was sold Bonhams London, 13 June 2012, lot 7. A damaged late 17th century walnut and caned miniature armchair formerly in the collection of Roger Warner was exhibited Sotheby's London, 2-27 January 1988,no.33 and later sold Christie's London, The Roger Warner Collection - Part 1, 20-21 January 2009, lot 201.

Category: Furniture / English Furniture and Works of Art

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