KIRKHAMFurniture-Making1982.pdf

century. They were extremely popular in London in the 1790s and were
probably introduced to the United States of America by fancy chair-makers,
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such as William Challen, who emigrated from London , as well as through
pattern books 127 . The chairs were coloured to. harmonise with interior
decoration and, because it was not necessary to use mahogany, a lighter
framework was obtained. The seats were usually caned, adding to the overall
light effect. The backs were decorated, often cut out or painted with
flowers or other motifs and the chairs came to be known as 'fancy' chairs
because of their decorative nature.
The term was used in 1786 when John Russell, chair-maker to the
royal household, supplied '14 fancy back chairs open cutt, shap(ed) feet
with cane seats very neatly japanried green and white and drawn into spriggs
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of flowers' Two years later, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide
commented on the 'new and very elegant fashion' of finishing chairs with
'painted or japanned work, which gives a rich and splendid appearance to
the minuter parts of the These chairs were not cheap;
many cost more than mahogany ones130. Coated with the finest varnish and
beautifully painted with arabesques or other motifs, they added lightness,
elegance and prettiness without gilding' to an interior and decorated the
homes of the upper as well as the middle classes131.
The great demand for 'fancy' chairs in London led to a new division
of labour within chair-making. Certain chair-makers specialised in the new
type of chair and, from the 1790s, were known as fancy chair-makers, a term
which was in common use by the early nineteenth century. In 1797, James
Kennett of Lambeth styled himself 'Dy'd, Fancy and Japanned Chair Maker' on
132 .
his bilihead while he is referred to as a maker of turned chairs in the
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apprenticeship records of the same year • When William Osborne of Berwick
Street, Soho, apprenticed two boys early in 1802, his craft was given as
134 .
chair-maker • When he apprenticed a third boy in that year, after he
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