18th Century Harlequin Set of English Oak and Elm Chairs

A harlequin set of four English oak and elm Windsor chairs late…
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A harlequin set of four English oak and elm Windsor chairs late 18th century, comprising two elbow chairs and two dining chairs, each having a spindle back centred by a pierced and carved vertical splat above a contoured seat, raised on turned supports united by cross stretchers

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  • Splat - The central back support between the top rail and the seat in chairs and couches. They may take a variety of forms, and run either horizontally or vertically.
  • Harlequin Set - A harlequin set is a collection of items that are similar in style or design but feature different variations in colour, construction or pattern. The term "harlequin" comes from the traditional costume worn by a character in Italian commedia dell'arte, which is made up of different coloured patches.

    For example with furniture, a harlequin set may refer to a group of chairs, typically dining chairs, where a number of the chairs are identical in design but one or more of the chairs may have a difference in the design of the leg or back. Harlequin sets can be found in silver flatware, porcelain dinner settings and glassware settings.
  • Pierced Decoration - Ornamental woodwork with part of the background cut through and removed to produce an open-work pattern.
  • Oak - Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.

    Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,

    Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.

    Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.
  • Harlequin Set - A "harlequin set" or "matched set" of chairs, is a set in which the chairs are similar, but not identical in design and construction, as in a true set. At a time when complete sets of chairs are increasingly difficult to find, dealers often have to rely on assembling a matched set from various sources. The world 'Harlequin' derives from the Italian comedy figure who traditionally wears a diamond-patterned costume. It is sometimes used to describe a pattern of inlay in this design.
  • Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.

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