Summary:

• Item: Victorian ebonised occasional chair
• Circa: 1880
• Period: Victorian
• Style: Aesthetic
• Wood: Ebony & amboyna
• Marquetry & string inlay
• Arched frame
• Ebonised columns
• Champagne gold satin upholstery
• Sprung seat
• Clean upholstery
• Ebony turned & fluted legs
• Shaped back legs
• Original brass & mug castors
• Stunning quality frame
• Very comfortable
• Free delivery to England, Wales & southern Scotland*
• Free 14-day UK returns policy

Description:

This is a fine quality antique English Victorian ebonised occasional chair, from the aesthetic movement, decorated with boxwood marquetry inlay and upholstered in champagne gold satin, circa 1880, boasting a decorative shape, in good condition.  Comprising an arched upholstered back, with a shaped finial pediment that is decorated with ebonised panels and boxwood foliate marquetry on an amboyna background.  The sides sweep down onto narrow inlaid arms, raised on turned fluted columns supports. which unite the seat base.  The front of the Victorian ebonised occasional chair is decorated with a bow shaped amboyna frieze, decorated with ebony banding, flanked by boxwood string inlay.  The Victorian chair is upholstered in champagne gold satin upholstery, with button decoration, flanked by rope braid, which is in good clean condition overall condition.  The sprung seat is finished with matching gold braid.  The high standard of the carvings to the frame is quite something, which signifies this as a top-quality chair.  The chair stands on sturdy ebony turned and fluted legs, terminating on the original brass and mug castors.  There are brass catches to the back of the underside of the seat, which suggests this possibly was once part of a conversation seat.

The Victorian ebonised occasional chair would be ideal for use as a decorative or occasional chair in the bedroom or nursery, as its extremely comfortable to sit on, or even hang clothes over.

The Aesthetic Movement

Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to be beautiful, rather than to serve a moral, allegorical, or other didactic purpose, a sentiment exemplified by the slogan “art for art’s sake.” Aestheticism originated in 1860s England with a radical group of artists and designers, including William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It flourished in the 1870s and 1880s, gaining prominence and the support of notable writers such as Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde. Aestheticism challenged the values of mainstream Victorian culture, as many Victorians believed that literature and art fulfilled important ethical roles. Writing in The Guardian, Fiona McCarthy states that “the aesthetic movement stood in stark and sometimes shocking contrast to the crass materialism of Britain in the 19th century.” Aestheticism was named by the critic Walter Hamilton in The Aesthetic Movement in England in 1882. By the 1890s, decadence, a term with origins in common with aestheticism, was in use across Europe. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheticism)

Dimensions: 

External Height = 88cm / 34⅝” / 2ft 10⅝”
External Width = 69cm / 27⅛” / 2ft 3⅛”
External Depth = 61cm / 24” / 2ft
Seat Height (Centre) = 40cm / 15¾” / 1ft 3¾”
Seat Width = 66cm / 26” / 2ft 2”
Seat Depth = 45cm / 17¾” / 1ft 5¾”
Back Height = 51cm / 20⅛” / 1ft 8⅛”

Condition Report:

This is a fine quality antique English ebonised Victorian ebonised occasional chair, from the aesthetic movement, decorated with boxwood marquetry inlay and upholstered in champagne gold satin, circa 1880, boasting a decorative shape, in good condition.  The upholstery is in good clean overall condition.  Nominal old use marks to the leading edges of the frame but nothing significant considering its age.  The ebonised frame has been cleaned by hand to a professional standard in our workshop, therefore the colour and patination is of an excellent standard.  The castors are original to the chair and in good condition.  There are brass catches to the back of the underside of the seat, which suggests this possibly was once part of a conversation seat.

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Ref. 81717