Freshfords Fine Antiques has dated this George III Gainsborough Armchair to the Georgian era.
The padded arms are supported on crisply carved mahogany uprights which rake back towards the chair. Each support terminates in a C scroll, with carved trailing foliage set between fluted borders.
The stuff over ‘saddle seat’ provides a generous and comfortable sitting position.
The chair stands on shallow fluted front legs and outstretched rear legs, terminating on the original leather and brass castors.
In Chippendale’s Director of 1753, chairs of this form were described as French chairs. Their frequent use in libraries soon led to the term library chair, which is how they are often recorded in eighteenth century inventories and the term generally preferred by Freshfords. The name Gainsborough chair nevertheless remains widely used within the antiques trade and early furniture literature.
The name derives from the English painter Thomas Gainsborough, whose portraits occasionally include chairs of this form. One example is his portrait of Charles, Earl Camden, later reproduced as an engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi and shown in the image gallery.
The chair retains its sturdy eighteenth century frame and is traditionally upholstered in horsehair.
Freshfords Fine Antiques has dated this George III Gainsborough Armchair to the Georgian era.
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George III Mahogany Gainsborough Armchair
