An Early 19thC George III Wingback Armchair c.1800
Period: George III
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1800
Height: 39” or 15” at seat
Width: 27”
Depth: 28” (all at extremities)
The generous English wingback armchair dating to the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century, well drawn in a particularly pleasing, enveloping form, having a tall gently arched back flanked by pronounced wings swept down to shaped enclosed arms, the whole raised upon four square-section, slightly tapered bleached legs terminating in original iron castors and surviving from the first quarter of nineteenth century England.
The pared back style is clean and sound with no restoration or repair needed or required. There are a handful of small marks to the upholstery which will come clean. Having been relatively recently upholstered in a wonderfully understated combination of natural linen to the back and sides and a muted sage and cream striped textile to the seat, the whole is finished with contrasting striped piping. The chair has been sympathetically restored and professionally resprung and upholstered, retaining the character and surface of its exposed legs. The upholstery has deliberately been given a relaxed, slightly timeworn appearance which sits extremely well with the age of the chair. Structurally sound, comfortable and ready for use, with the expected knocks, marks and wear to the legs commensurate with age.
Wing chairs developed during the later seventeenth century, their high backs and projecting sides originally intended to shelter the sitter from draughts while retaining the warmth of an open fire. By the Georgian period the form had evolved into the deep, generously proportioned chair seen here. This example has a particularly attractive transitional quality: the restrained legs and sweeping, almost architectural silhouette allowing the form itself to provide the decoration rather than relying upon carving or elaborate timberwork.
A handsome and extremely comfortable country-house chair, its scale, softened linen upholstery and wonderfully simple profile giving it considerably more presence than a conventional Georgian armchair. An excellent fireside or reading chair and one which combines an early form with a very usable contemporary treatment.