Chairs of this form were fashionable from about 1615 to about 1660. They provided comfort and indicated status in a wealthy household. The chair may have been made with a matching set of smaller chairs without arms. The red velvet on the back is original. The dark line across the back shows where a fringe was once attached. There are also traces of original gilded and painted decoration, so this was clearly an expensive and prestigious example. Royal bills show that the gilder Philip Bromefield (active 1626-1642) supplied gilded and painted furniture to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. Very few examples of painted furniture survive from the 1600s.