The upholstery method -- with a cushion resting in a well over a four-sided valance -- is a very rare survival. Another upholstered stool fitted with a cushion – but a much thinner one – is shown in a Baroque interior of 1721 by Jan Vierpyl (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; see Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 87, fig. 66). Even more remarkable is the use of ribbon bows to tie the valance down at the four corners of its platform, since these would never be seen when the cushion was in place -- and the depth of the well is such that the stool could never be used without the cushion. Although we now see this in the stool as restored around 1800, it almost certainly replicates the technique used when the stool was first made around 1700--10, since remnants of a blue ribbon survive at the corners, sewn to the stuffing-cover beneath the valance. No other instance of this usage is known, but a parallel custom is the contemporary (early 18th-century) use of decorative tufting on the seat platforms of sofas, beneath a deep cushion. Examples of the latter usage are a settee of ca. 1700--05 from Hampton Court, Herefordshire, in the V&A (Museum no. W.15-1945), and another ca. 1710 at Lyme Park, Cheshire (see Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 22, figs 30--31, 54).
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| - The upholstery method -- with a cushion resting in a well over a four-sided valance -- is a very rare survival. Another upholstered stool fitted with a cushion – but a much thinner one – is shown in a Baroque interior of 1721 by Jan Vierpyl (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; see Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 87, fig. 66). Even more remarkable is the use of ribbon bows to tie the valance down at the four corners of its platform, since these would never be seen when the cushion was in place -- and the depth of the well is such that the stool could never be used without the cushion. Although we now see this in the stool as restored around 1800, it almost certainly replicates the technique used when the stool was first made around 1700--10, since remnants of a blue ribbon survive at the corners, sewn to the stuffing-cover beneath the valance. No other instance of this usage is known, but a parallel custom is the contemporary (early 18th-century) use of decorative tufting on the seat platforms of sofas, beneath a deep cushion. Examples of the latter usage are a settee of ca. 1700--05 from Hampton Court, Herefordshire, in the V&A (Museum no. W.15-1945), and another ca. 1710 at Lyme Park, Cheshire (see Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 22, figs 30--31, 54). (en)
- Stool of carved and gilt wood, upholstered with a valance of red silk velvet and a loose cushion of crimson silk velvet paned with two figured silk velvets, trimmed with coloured braids. The cushion conserved (2011-12) to show more of the original multi-coloured velvet; the water-gilding original. (en)
- Design
A stool of carved and gilt wood upholstered with a valance and cushion, covered in red velvet and remnants of earlier figured velvets, and trimmed with knotted and tufted braids. The carved beech frame has pierced, tapered legs carved with foliage and lambrequins, joined by scrolling X-form stretchers which meet at a central vase finial. The valance is fitted to an upholstered lip on all four sides, within which the box-shaped cushion sits. The gilding of the frame has been stripped to reveal the original water-gilded surface. The figured velvets and the trimmings are original to the stool, but the worn red silk velvet is later. The trimmings on the cushion differ from those on the companion stool (W.15-2009), and neither precisely reflects the original arrangement. The underside of the cushion is covered in red silk over a red worsted.
The legs and stretchers are carved with foliage and flower-heads in relief against a cross-hatched ground – the main motifs carved in the wood, the cross-hatching and other surface detail carved in the gesso for the gilding. The quarter-round top of each leg is carved with a husk-filled lambrequin on the front and back faces and with acanthus drops on the sides and corners. Beneath the lambreqins the top part of the shaft is pierced, front to back, the piercing echoing the concave tapered form of the shaft, above a carved drop with a central flower-head. The side faces of the shaft are carved with a volute and laurel drop, parallel to the piercing, and are plain (cross-hatched) below. The bottom of the shaft is carved on all four sides with erect acanthus in high relief, above a shallow blocking – which intersects the stretcher – and the gadrooned quarter-round foot, which ends in a tapered plinth.
Each quarter of the stretchers is of broken S-shaped plan, flat in the outer half and rising in a scroll at the centre where it ends in a volute. The top of each volute is carved with acanthus, and each upright face is carved with a flower-and-bud motif in the middle. The four quarters meet at a central crossing, which is surmounted by a small gadrooned urn finial.
Construction
As far as can be seen the frame is made wholly of beech. From losses of wood and joints just visible in the gilding, it is clear that the legs were pieced out from a core of approximately the same thickness as the blocking at the end of each stretcher. The cross-stretchers, two full-length diagonal members, may be pieced out on the top, though this cannot be seen. They are half-lapped to each other at the crossing and secured by the turned finial which is dowelled through this joint (the dowel protruding underneath). The seat rails are tenoned to the legs. The legs and the feet, formed separately, are all tenoned to the stretchers. It appears that the feet each have a larger tenon than the legs (this was assessed by seeing how far a thin film of melinex could be eased into the horizontal gaps between the leg and stretcher and the foot and stretcher, before it was obstructed by the tenon). So possibly each foot was first tenoned into the stretcher, and the leg then tenoned down into the foot tenon.
One of the short seat rails has a waney edge (with a natural chamfer where it was cut at the curve of the trunk, next to the bark). This rail is more worm-eaten than the rest of the frame, the waney edge being sapwood, which is particularly prone to worm damage. (en)
- This stool and its pair (Museum no. W.15-2009) form part of an important bedroom suite (with a four-post bed, two armchairs and four other stools), which has been at Warwick Castle since the late 18th century.
The suite, originally consisting of a bed, armchair and four stools, was supplied in 1701 or 1702 for William III’s Little Bedchamber at Hampton Court Palace. It was adapted and extended with another armchair and two more stools in 1703 for Queen Anne’s State Bedchamber at Kensington Palace. George III gave the suite to the first Earl of Warwick, and two settees were added at Warwick Castle, probably for the second Earl of Warwick in the late 1770s. The expanded suite was restored and partially reupholstered between c.1790 and c. 1820, most likely shortly before 1802 and again for the second Earl. (en)
- Stool (lower)
1701 or 1702
Restored about 1800
England (London)
Beech, carved and water-gilded (original)
Upholstery: figured velvets with coloured silk trimming (original); crimson silk velvet and ribbon (about 1800)
Acquired with support from the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), The Brigadier Clark Fund and the London Historic House Museums Trust in memory of Wendy and George Levy
Museum no. W.14-2009
An inventive method was used to upholster this grand stool. The loose cushion rests in a shallow well to keep it in position. The cover of the stool is removable and tied down into the base cloth using decorative bows (usually hidden).
The cushion has been conserved to show more of the original multi-coloured velvet, recently discovered under the later crimson covers.
[01/12/2012] (en)
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| sameAs
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| dc:identifier
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| P3 has note
| - The upholstery method -- with a cushion resting in a well over a four-sided valance -- is a very rare survival. Another upholstered stool fitted with a cushion – but a much thinner one – is shown in a Baroque interior of 1721 by Jan Vierpyl (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; see Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 87, fig. 66). Even more remarkable is the use of ribbon bows to tie the valance down at the four corners of its platform, since these would never be seen when the cushion was in place -- and the depth of the well is such that the stool could never be used without the cushion. Although we now see this in the stool as restored around 1800, it almost certainly replicates the technique used when the stool was first made around 1700--10, since remnants of a blue ribbon survive at the corners, sewn to the stuffing-cover beneath the valance. No other instance of this usage is known, but a parallel custom is the contemporary (early 18th-century) use of decorative tufting on the seat platforms of sofas, beneath a deep cushion. Examples of the latter usage are a settee of ca. 1700--05 from Hampton Court, Herefordshire, in the V&A (Museum no. W.15-1945), and another ca. 1710 at Lyme Park, Cheshire (see Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 22, figs 30--31, 54). (en)
- Stool of carved and gilt wood, upholstered with a valance of red silk velvet and a loose cushion of crimson silk velvet paned with two figured silk velvets, trimmed with coloured braids. The cushion conserved (2011-12) to show more of the original multi-coloured velvet; the water-gilding original. (en)
- Design
A stool of carved and gilt wood upholstered with a valance and cushion, covered in red velvet and remnants of earlier figured velvets, and trimmed with knotted and tufted braids. The carved beech frame has pierced, tapered legs carved with foliage and lambrequins, joined by scrolling X-form stretchers which meet at a central vase finial. The valance is fitted to an upholstered lip on all four sides, within which the box-shaped cushion sits. The gilding of the frame has been stripped to reveal the original water-gilded surface. The figured velvets and the trimmings are original to the stool, but the worn red silk velvet is later. The trimmings on the cushion differ from those on the companion stool (W.15-2009), and neither precisely reflects the original arrangement. The underside of the cushion is covered in red silk over a red worsted.
The legs and stretchers are carved with foliage and flower-heads in relief against a cross-hatched ground – the main motifs carved in the wood, the cross-hatching and other surface detail carved in the gesso for the gilding. The quarter-round top of each leg is carved with a husk-filled lambrequin on the front and back faces and with acanthus drops on the sides and corners. Beneath the lambreqins the top part of the shaft is pierced, front to back, the piercing echoing the concave tapered form of the shaft, above a carved drop with a central flower-head. The side faces of the shaft are carved with a volute and laurel drop, parallel to the piercing, and are plain (cross-hatched) below. The bottom of the shaft is carved on all four sides with erect acanthus in high relief, above a shallow blocking – which intersects the stretcher – and the gadrooned quarter-round foot, which ends in a tapered plinth.
Each quarter of the stretchers is of broken S-shaped plan, flat in the outer half and rising in a scroll at the centre where it ends in a volute. The top of each volute is carved with acanthus, and each upright face is carved with a flower-and-bud motif in the middle. The four quarters meet at a central crossing, which is surmounted by a small gadrooned urn finial.
Construction
As far as can be seen the frame is made wholly of beech. From losses of wood and joints just visible in the gilding, it is clear that the legs were pieced out from a core of approximately the same thickness as the blocking at the end of each stretcher. The cross-stretchers, two full-length diagonal members, may be pieced out on the top, though this cannot be seen. They are half-lapped to each other at the crossing and secured by the turned finial which is dowelled through this joint (the dowel protruding underneath). The seat rails are tenoned to the legs. The legs and the feet, formed separately, are all tenoned to the stretchers. It appears that the feet each have a larger tenon than the legs (this was assessed by seeing how far a thin film of melinex could be eased into the horizontal gaps between the leg and stretcher and the foot and stretcher, before it was obstructed by the tenon). So possibly each foot was first tenoned into the stretcher, and the leg then tenoned down into the foot tenon.
One of the short seat rails has a waney edge (with a natural chamfer where it was cut at the curve of the trunk, next to the bark). This rail is more worm-eaten than the rest of the frame, the waney edge being sapwood, which is particularly prone to worm damage. (en)
- This stool and its pair (Museum no. W.15-2009) form part of an important bedroom suite (with a four-post bed, two armchairs and four other stools), which has been at Warwick Castle since the late 18th century.
The suite, originally consisting of a bed, armchair and four stools, was supplied in 1701 or 1702 for William III’s Little Bedchamber at Hampton Court Palace. It was adapted and extended with another armchair and two more stools in 1703 for Queen Anne’s State Bedchamber at Kensington Palace. George III gave the suite to the first Earl of Warwick, and two settees were added at Warwick Castle, probably for the second Earl of Warwick in the late 1770s. The expanded suite was restored and partially reupholstered between c.1790 and c. 1820, most likely shortly before 1802 and again for the second Earl. (en)
- Stool (lower)
1701 or 1702
Restored about 1800
England (London)
Beech, carved and water-gilded (original)
Upholstery: figured velvets with coloured silk trimming (original); crimson silk velvet and ribbon (about 1800)
Acquired with support from the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), The Brigadier Clark Fund and the London Historic House Museums Trust in memory of Wendy and George Levy
Museum no. W.14-2009
An inventive method was used to upholster this grand stool. The loose cushion rests in a shallow well to keep it in position. The cover of the stool is removable and tied down into the base cloth using decorative bows (usually hidden).
The cushion has been conserved to show more of the original multi-coloured velvet, recently discovered under the later crimson covers.
[01/12/2012] (en)
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| P43 has dimension
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| P65 shows visual item
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| is P106 is composed of
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| is P41 classified
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