18th Century Chippendale Mahogany Elbow Chair with Pierced Splat

• 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.
• Elbow Chair - Another name given to a dining chair with arms, more commonly called a carver chair.
• Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
  
  Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
• Pierced Decoration - Ornamental woodwork with part of the background cut through and removed to produce an open-work pattern.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• chairs, singles - Georgian 550
• chairs, singles / pairs / threes, style or period
  • armchairs 1,767
  • Chippendale style 124
  • elbow 197
• chairs, singles / pairs / threes, timber - mahogany 1,120