Settee: M.24 & A & B-1982

Titles

Settee

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

• Settee

Categories

• Furniture

Description

Settee of padouk with low fretted back and cane seat, with seat cushion and one small additional cushion covered with red damask.

Notes

History note: Professor Sir John H. Plumb, Master of Christ's College.

Legal notes

Given by Professor Sir John H. Plumb, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, 1978-1982

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1982-07-19) by Plumb, John H.

Dating

George III
Production date: circa AD 1800

Note

Furniture was made in various locations on the Indian subcontinent during the period of British colonial rule, either for local use by European officials or for export to the European market. It was often made of padouk, a reddish wood native to Southeast Asia; elaborate examples were inlaid or veneered with ivory or ebony. The use of woven cane for the seats and backs of chairs and settees originated in this hot climate and was quickly adopted all over Europe. In the eighteenth century, Indian craftsman copied furniture designs from pattern-books as well as from original pieces. The Neo-Classical style of this settee, with its tapered legs, curving arms and straight openwork back, was derived from a design by furniture designer Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). The narrow parallel cuts through the top rail of the back probably resulted from a misreading of the engraving provided for craftsmen to copy, in which grooved decorative carving was represented by parallel black lines.

School or Style

Neoclassical