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Side Chair

English
late 17th century
Object Place: Europe, England

Medium/Technique Japanned wood with caned seats and backs
Dimensions 115.41 x 53.97 x 54.61 cm (45 7/16 x 21 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Gift of the Colburn Foundation in honor of Thomas S. Michie
Accession Number2020.349.1
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
This pair of caned Queen Anne side chairs are vividly decorated in a striking combination of yellow, red, and blue colors. Asian lacquer was much admired in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and a lacquer technique known as "japanning" was developed to imitate the work produced in both China and Japan. Yellow japanning, as in these chairs, is less common than the black, dark green, and bright red lacquers used in Europe for a variety of furniture types. It is unusual to find late 17th century chairs retaining their original japanned surface.
Caned 'India' patterned chair of this type were adopted by furniture maker John Ball of the City of London for his trade-signs and trade-sheets, which noted that he 'Makes and Sells all Sorts of Cane Chairs, Silk Chairs, Leather Chairs, Matted Chairs and Couches'. Furniture arriving in London via the East India Company would have served as inspiration for makers like Ball and others, who wished to capitalize on his discerning clientele’s interest in ‘exotic’ techniques. A related set of chairs was supplied to the Dryden family of Canons Ashby in Northamptonshire.

DescriptionPair with 2020.349.2. Extensive flaking of japanning on crest rail (in four spots), lower back legs badly flaking, front legs also fragile. With seat cushion accessory.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Irving W. Colburn, Lake Forest, IL and Manchester, MA; by 1982, transferred to the Colburn Foundation, Manchester [see note]; 2020, gift of the Colburn Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 25, 2020)

NOTE: First lent to the MFA in 1982 (loan nos. 264-265.1982).