Images(2)

Side Chair, Cane Back

Date1710-1720

OriginEngland

MediumBeech and cane

DimensionsOH: 47" H(seat): 17 1/2" OW: 17 3/4" OD: 14 1/2

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1947-603,3

DescriptionCane back side chair has elaborately carved and scrolled cresting rail; baluster turned stiles, blocked at bottom; oval splat molded around outside edge and caned inside; "square" seat molded on outside edge and caned inside; front legs baluster turned at top above scrolled lower section terminating in scrolled foot; front stretcher carved and scrolled in same design as cresting rail; blocked and turned side stretcher; ball and ring turned medial stretcher.
Label TextChairs with seats and backs of woven Asian rattan bark (or cane) became fashionable in England around 1664 and remained so until the 1720s. Canned chairs were widely recorded in middle-class and noble house inventories well into the first half of the eighteenth century. Light-weight and durable, cane seating was touted as free of the "dust, worms, and moths" that infested upholstered chairs. Carved with C scrolls and usually fitted with silk or wool cushions, these chairs epitomize the taste for richly ornamented surfaces.
MarkingsNone found