A Late Victorian Upholstered Chesterfield Sofa Attributed to James Shoolbred c.1890

SOLD
Origin: English    
Period: Late Victorian
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1890
Height: 26” or 14” at seat
Width: 77”
Depth: 35” (all at extremities)

The very good quality three-seater carcass with sprung seat, the whole being newly upholstered in Colefax and Fowlers’ Perseus carpet inspired fabric, with single piping and sitting on ring turned mahogany front legs and sabre rear legs to ceramic and brass castors, the rear legs stamped ‘7062’ and ‘3838’ being attributed to James Shoolbred and surviving from late Victorian period England.

The fabric we have used here is inspired by an antique Persian carpet design from the 16th century and was developed in the Colefax design studio and it being fresh and new to the market it is in perfect condition. The sofa does not require any attention and is ready to use. We have given it the once over mechanically and cosmetically so she is plump, refreshed and springy and we have tightened the joints and the castors, which are later though still at least fifty years old, run freely.

James Shoolbred and Company was a draper and later a department store, located on Tottenham Court Road, London. The store was established in the 1820s at 155 Tottenham Court Road selling textiles for home furnishing. In the 1870s the store began designing, manufacturing and selling high quality furniture. This sofa bears the same stencil punched numbers as Schoolbred pieces and the front legs are also turned in the same manner. Chesterfields were a firm favourite of the workshop.

Chesterfield sofas share a complex history, alongside the elite, the privileged and aristocrats. History reveals that these types of couches have been commonly used in the confines of old institutions, government buildings and luxurious homes for generations. A room, in the 1900’s, would not be complete, unless the master owns a Chesterfield sofa.

A ready-to-go beauty by one of the best makers in a splendid fabric.
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