Photograph © Leeds Museums and Galleries / Bridgeman Images The rate of discovery of new Philip Clissett chairs seems to have slowed, but I came across this one because of a photograph of a William Cole chair in Christopher Gilbert's book English Vernacular Furniture 1750-1900. Enquiries at Leeds led to this unusual armchair also owned by the Gallery.
The chair is unusual chiefly because it is a spindleback with tapered arm supports, and the broad flat arms - these are exactly the type seen on most of Clissett's well-known ladderbacks. They contrast sharply with the bulbous arms support and the deeper light or heavy arms usually seen on the spindlebacks. This cross-over could indicate that this spindleback is later in date, with a customer demanding these elements from the ladderback. Alternatively, it's equally possible that these elements always existed in Clissett's repertoire, but were rarely used. Unfortunately, in the absence of perfect provenance for the spindleback chairs, we cannot date them to any particular phase of Clissett's life.
The use of these elements from the ladderback links this chair with an unstamped hybrid chair discussed in an earlier post. That chair has pretty good provenance, and the existence of this very similar chair with Clissett's stamp makes it even more likely that it is one of his.
The Leeds chair is also unusual in having a crest rail made from sycamore. Clissett often used cherry for the crest rail and the arms; walnut and laburnum have also been recorded.
A photograph of this chair also appears in Christopher Gilbert's Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall.
I am very grateful to Adam Toole of Lotherton Hall for all his help with this chair, and for providing the photograph.
The chair is unusual chiefly because it is a spindleback with tapered arm supports, and the broad flat arms - these are exactly the type seen on most of Clissett's well-known ladderbacks. They contrast sharply with the bulbous arms support and the deeper light or heavy arms usually seen on the spindlebacks. This cross-over could indicate that this spindleback is later in date, with a customer demanding these elements from the ladderback. Alternatively, it's equally possible that these elements always existed in Clissett's repertoire, but were rarely used. Unfortunately, in the absence of perfect provenance for the spindleback chairs, we cannot date them to any particular phase of Clissett's life.
The use of these elements from the ladderback links this chair with an unstamped hybrid chair discussed in an earlier post. That chair has pretty good provenance, and the existence of this very similar chair with Clissett's stamp makes it even more likely that it is one of his.
The Leeds chair is also unusual in having a crest rail made from sycamore. Clissett often used cherry for the crest rail and the arms; walnut and laburnum have also been recorded.
A photograph of this chair also appears in Christopher Gilbert's Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall.
I am very grateful to Adam Toole of Lotherton Hall for all his help with this chair, and for providing the photograph.
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