Art Funded by you

Ladderback chairs

Giles Grendey, c. 1750

This set of six chairs can be attributed to Giles Grendy as one chair has a fragment of his label. Grendy's furniture was largely designed for the middling market making him particularly appropriate for the Geffrye Museum's collections which seek to represent middle-class consumption. The form of the chairs is particularly interesting – a fashionable, urban version of a traditional ladder-back chair, itself an adaptation of Dutch chairs imported from in the seventeenth century. The chairs originally had rush seats; walnut, rush-seated chairs are frequently mentioned in the inventories of middling Londoners' parlours and dining rooms, but rarely survive with their rush seats in tact. In addition, very few surviving pieces of London furniture can be securely connected to a maker, making these chairs very significant for Furniture History.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Ladderback chairs, c. 1750

Date supported

2009

Medium and material

Walnut

Dimensions

Each: 94 x 52 x 6 cm

Grant

6821

Total cost

12054

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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