A GEORGE II RED JAPANNED OPEN ARMCHAIR, ATTRIBUTED TO GILES GRENDEY
WITH SHAPED AND DECORATED SPLAT BACK, CRESTED BY A SCALLOP SHELL, WITH THE OVERALL GILT JAPANNED DECORATION IN A WONDERFULLY PRESERVED BUT UNTOUCHED CONDITION, WITH UNUSUALLY SHAPED ARMS TERMINATING IN CURLED EAGLE HEADS, ON CARVED CABRIOLE LEGS AND BALL AND CLAW FEET. THE CANED BACK AND SEAT IN STRUCTURALLY SOUND CONDITION.
DURING THE LATE 17TH CENTURY, THE ALLURE OF THE EAST CAST A SPELL OVER EUROPE THAT WOULD SHAPE CULTURE AND IMAGINATION FOR CENTURIES. IN ENGLAND, A PASSION FOR ALL THINGS ‘INDIAN’ — A TERM THEN BROADLY APPLIED TO THE CHINESE — BLOSSOMED AFTER THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY IN THE 1660S, AT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN TEA-DRINKING BECAME THE HEIGHT OF SOPHISTICATION IN THE GREAT LONDON DRAWING ROOMS. SHIMMERING SILKS, DELICATE PORCELAIN, FRAGRANT TEAS, EXOTIC SPICES, AND REFLECTIVE LACQUERWARE ARRIVED DURING THE LATE 17TH CENTURY, THROUGH THE HANDS OF PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH TRADERS.
BY THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE APPETITE FOR DECORATIVE CREATIONS FROM THE EAST ONLY GREW FURTHER. AS TRADE FALTERED DURING THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION (1702–1713), LONDON’S ARTISANS PROVED RESOURCEFUL, AS SUPPLY DIMINISHED. CABINETMAKERS AND JOINERS TRANSFORMED THE POPULAR FASCINATION WITH THE EAST INTO AN ENGLISH ART FORM, CRAFTING FURNITURE THAT GLEAMED WITH IMITATION LACQUER AND SHIMMERED WITH THE ILLUSION OF THE ORIENT. THEIR METHODS ARE DETAILED IN A ‘TREATISE OF JAPANNING AND VARNISHING’ (1688) BY JOHN STALKER AND GEORGE PARKER — THE FIRST MANUAL OF ITS KIND, PROMISING “A COMPLEAT DISCOVERY OF THOSE ARTS.” ITS PAGES UNVEILED THE SECRETS OF VARNISHING, GILDING, AND LACQUERING; OUTLINING EXQUISITELY DRAWN DESIGNS OF DISTANT GARDENS, EXOTIC BIRDS, MYSTICAL CREATURES, AND BUTTERFLIES SUSPENDED IN FLIGHT, EVOKING THE ROMANTIC FANTASY OF THE EAST THAT SO CAPTIVATED THE EUROPEAN MIND.
MOST KNOWN FOR PERFECTING THIS ART WAS GILES GRENDEY OF CLERKENWELL (1693–1780), ONE OF LONDON’S MOST DISTINGUISHED CABINETMAKERS. HIS PROLIFIC WORKSHOP FED THE APPETITE FOR JAPANNED FURNITURE BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD. THE CURRENT CHAIR, WITH ITS GRACEFUL CANED BACK AND SEAT, WAS LIKELY PART OF A LARGER SUITE, ULTIMATELY DESTINED FOR EXPORT — PERHAPS TO THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, WHERE SUCH ELEGANCE REMAINED ADORED WELL INTO THE 1740’S. GRENDEY’S CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE CREATION OF A MAGNIFICENT SCARLET AND GOLD JAPANNED SUITE FOR THE DUKE OF INFANTADO AT LAZCANO CASTLE IN NORTHERN SPAIN, OF WHICH THIS CHAIR DRAWS MULTIPLE VISUAL REFERENCES. DISPERSED BEGINNING IN THE 1930S, FRAGMENTS OF THIS LEGENDARY ENSEMBLE NOW REST IN THE WORLD’S GREAT COLLECTIONS — A SINGLE SIDE CHAIR AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK (37.115), AND OTHERS (SIX SIDE CHAIRS AND TWO ARMCHAIRS) PRESERVED AT TEMPLE NEWSAM HOUSE.
LITERATURE;
A. BOWETT, EARLY GEORGIAN FURNITURE 1715-1740 (WOODBRIDGE, 2009) P. 158, PL. 4:29
H 112CM, 44 1/4” X SEAT H 43CM, 17” X W 74CM, 29 1/4” X D: 58CM, 23”
[ ENQUIRE ]
A GEORGE II RED JAPANNED OPEN ARMCHAIR, ATTRIBUTED TO GILES GRENDEY
WITH SHAPED AND DECORATED SPLAT BACK, CRESTED BY A SCALLOP SHELL, WITH THE OVERALL GILT JAPANNED DECORATION IN A WONDERFULLY PRESERVED BUT UNTOUCHED CONDITION, WITH UNUSUALLY SHAPED ARMS TERMINATING IN CURLED EAGLE HEADS, ON CARVED CABRIOLE LEGS AND BALL AND CLAW FEET. THE CANED BACK AND SEAT IN STRUCTURALLY SOUND CONDITION.
DURING THE LATE 17TH CENTURY, THE ALLURE OF THE EAST CAST A SPELL OVER EUROPE THAT WOULD SHAPE CULTURE AND IMAGINATION FOR CENTURIES. IN ENGLAND, A PASSION FOR ALL THINGS ‘INDIAN’ — A TERM THEN BROADLY APPLIED TO THE CHINESE — BLOSSOMED AFTER THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY IN THE 1660S, AT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN TEA-DRINKING BECAME THE HEIGHT OF SOPHISTICATION IN THE GREAT LONDON DRAWING ROOMS. SHIMMERING SILKS, DELICATE PORCELAIN, FRAGRANT TEAS, EXOTIC SPICES, AND REFLECTIVE LACQUERWARE ARRIVED DURING THE LATE 17TH CENTURY, THROUGH THE HANDS OF PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH TRADERS.
BY THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE APPETITE FOR DECORATIVE CREATIONS FROM THE EAST ONLY GREW FURTHER. AS TRADE FALTERED DURING THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION (1702–1713), LONDON’S ARTISANS PROVED RESOURCEFUL, AS SUPPLY DIMINISHED. CABINETMAKERS AND JOINERS TRANSFORMED THE POPULAR FASCINATION WITH THE EAST INTO AN ENGLISH ART FORM, CRAFTING FURNITURE THAT GLEAMED WITH IMITATION LACQUER AND SHIMMERED WITH THE ILLUSION OF THE ORIENT. THEIR METHODS ARE DETAILED IN A ‘TREATISE OF JAPANNING AND VARNISHING’ (1688) BY JOHN STALKER AND GEORGE PARKER — THE FIRST MANUAL OF ITS KIND, PROMISING “A COMPLEAT DISCOVERY OF THOSE ARTS.” ITS PAGES UNVEILED THE SECRETS OF VARNISHING, GILDING, AND LACQUERING; OUTLINING EXQUISITELY DRAWN DESIGNS OF DISTANT GARDENS, EXOTIC BIRDS, MYSTICAL CREATURES, AND BUTTERFLIES SUSPENDED IN FLIGHT, EVOKING THE ROMANTIC FANTASY OF THE EAST THAT SO CAPTIVATED THE EUROPEAN MIND.
MOST KNOWN FOR PERFECTING THIS ART WAS GILES GRENDEY OF CLERKENWELL (1693–1780), ONE OF LONDON’S MOST DISTINGUISHED CABINETMAKERS. HIS PROLIFIC WORKSHOP FED THE APPETITE FOR JAPANNED FURNITURE BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD. THE CURRENT CHAIR, WITH ITS GRACEFUL CANED BACK AND SEAT, WAS LIKELY PART OF A LARGER SUITE, ULTIMATELY DESTINED FOR EXPORT — PERHAPS TO THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, WHERE SUCH ELEGANCE REMAINED ADORED WELL INTO THE 1740’S. GRENDEY’S CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE CREATION OF A MAGNIFICENT SCARLET AND GOLD JAPANNED SUITE FOR THE DUKE OF INFANTADO AT LAZCANO CASTLE IN NORTHERN SPAIN, OF WHICH THIS CHAIR DRAWS MULTIPLE VISUAL REFERENCES. DISPERSED BEGINNING IN THE 1930S, FRAGMENTS OF THIS LEGENDARY ENSEMBLE NOW REST IN THE WORLD’S GREAT COLLECTIONS — A SINGLE SIDE CHAIR AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK (37.115), AND OTHERS (SIX SIDE CHAIRS AND TWO ARMCHAIRS) PRESERVED AT TEMPLE NEWSAM HOUSE.
LITERATURE;
A. BOWETT, EARLY GEORGIAN FURNITURE 1715-1740 (WOODBRIDGE, 2009) P. 158, PL. 4:29
H 112CM, 44 1/4” X SEAT H 43CM, 17” X W 74CM, 29 1/4” X D: 58CM, 23”
[ ENQUIRE ]
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