Chippendale supplied fourteen of these armchairs for the State Dressing room at Nostell Priory and described them as 'India Arm'd Chairs'. Although chinoiserie is generally associated with the earlier Rococo style it can be found in furniture of the later Neo-classical period, albeit in a much more restrained manner. Designs for similar 'Chinese Chairs' can be found in Chippendale's Director and are shown here.
He considered 'Chairs after the Chinese Manner' as particularly 'proper for a Lady's Dressing-Room: especially if it is hung with India Paper'. Sir Rowland Winn must have particularly liked this type of scheme because he commissioned Chippendale to furnish his best rooms in the Chinese taste. Not only did he supply these chairs, but also a suite of cabinet furniture, japanned green and decorated with gilt chinoiserie scenes, as well as hand-painted wallpaper in the Chinese taste. The surviving wallpaper can be seen in its original setting at Nostell Priory.
The chairs are painted in their original colour scheme, but the floral chintz upholstery is modern. In the 1980's, along with the bed and other pieces of furniture, these chairs suffered smoke damage due to a fire at Nostell Priory. Through careful examination of the bed, tiny fragments of the original uphostery were discovered on the tester. Similar chintzes from the same period were studied and a pattern, using the design from the fragments as far as possible, was established. This investigation revealed that Chippendale had used Chinese painted cotton imported through the East India Company. Using materials imported from the East was one way for aristocrats to display their wealth and status and so Sir Rowland Winn would have been keen to use such materials for important rooms like the State Bed and Dressing Rooms.
Chair
c.1771
Nostell Priory (The National Trust)
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