An extraordinary James I joined oak double panel-back open armchair, probably Welsh, dated 1624


Having a magnificent and tall fan-carved cresting, with tight-scrolls to the top edge and a group of three carved initials and/or dates to the lower edge, reading from the left, 'I H STP', '1624 MC', '1624' [it would appear an initial after 'STP' has been historically removed], the back with a deeply carved panel, unusually designed with a geometric-filled arch, with cusped lower edge, and raised on reeded pillars, enclosing one large and two small trident motifs or stylized angular fleur-de-lys, with leaf-and-berry upper spandrels, and all framed by radiating bands, above a narrow panel carved with bold nulling, between two matching carved horizontal back rails, the uprights with full-length scrolled 'ears', the horizontal arms with a shallow curve, and each with an eccentric superstructure, carved as a stylized female with naked torso, and square stepped finial, the rear return rail carved with matching arch motifs, on turned and double-fluted carved front supports, the boarded seat with ovolo-moulded edge, with matching null-carved seat rails, on multiple-turned front legs, joined by plain stretchers all round, 76cm wide x 53cm deep x 153cm high, (29 1/2in wide x 20 1/2in deep x 60in high)
|Provenance:Private collection, Vale of Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales, where the chair was photographed and the image held at the National Museum of History, St. Fagans, CardiffSold Sotheby's, London, 10 September 2007, Lot 124Armchairs featuring carved figural secondary supports above traditional arms are exceptionally rare. Presently only two further examples are known. One is in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, [no. 14.70], and the other, formerly at Cold Overton Hall, Leicestershire, sold Sotheby's London, 10th October 1986, Lot 138. The statuesque proportions of this lot, combined with the use of unfamiliar motives and iconography, ensure that this chair takes on a 'throne'-like appearance, suggesting that it was intended for a specific function. Conversely, it could be argued that the chair's main unique feature, the additional arm supports, merely act as 'wings', to provide extra support for cushions when placed around the sitter and secured in place by ties or ribbons. See Victor Chinnery Oak Furniture: The British Tradition (2016), p. 206. Indeed, this use of 'wings' is found on two related chairs, one dated 1659 in the Burrell Collection [no. 14.202], and the other formerly in the Clive Sherwood Collection, dated 1656, and sold Sotheby's, Olympia, London, 22 May 2002, Lot 405. Attributed to Lancashire, these two dated chairs are thought to have been made for William Stanley (1640-1670) a younger son of the Earl of Derby [ibid., 398]. However, apart from the obvious additional arm support neither of the Stanley chairs bares any true resemblance to this lot. The arm superstructure is merely a scaled-down version of the main arm, and as a result their use for cushion support seems more likely, whilst the impractical carved extra arm supports found here suggest an elaborate and grandiose statement of authority, rather than a simple practical use.The unusual combination of dates and initials to this chair's cresting rail are difficult to decipher. However, the chair may have had a ceremonial function, possibly in a church, as the initials 'STP' are known to stand for 'Sacrae Theologiae Professor' or Doctor of Sacred Theology, and are found elsewhere on monuments in English and Welsh churches to denote holders of the degree of Doctor of Divinity. For instance, a monument to Stephen Hales (1677 – 1761), eminent botanist and inventor of ventilators, was raised by Princess Augusta, George III's mother, in the south transept of Westminster Abbey: the letters 'S.T.P.' follow his name. A ceremonial function for the chair might account for the fact that at least two pairs of initials are present, the second pair added when the incumbent or office-holder changed.For related chairs see Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture: The British Tradition (2016), p.211, figs. 3:59 & 3:60 and p. 300, figs. 4:54 & 4:55, and Tobias Jellinek, Early British Chairs and Seats 1500 to 1700 (2009), p. 84, pl. 76. Michael Dann, The English Smile (2005), pp. 123-127, [item 21], illustrates a chair with a similar fan-cresting and nulled-carved rails. The back panel is also framed with 'slanted strips' as found here. This chair is dated to circa 1550-60 and described as English.