A Fine Regency Painted and Caned Window Seat, circa 1815
£1,595.00
Description
An exceptionally rare and imposing architectural wall bracket, masterfully hewn from solid French oak and sourced from a traditional convent in France. This monumental piece is of substantial weight and scale, originally designed to serve as a structural support for a large devotional saint. The bracket exhibits a powerful, deep-bellied silhouette with a dramatic s-scroll, terminating in a solid, squared platform and a robustly turned pendant finial.
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A Fine Regency Painted and Caned Window Seat, circa 1815
An exquisite and rare Regency period window seat, displaying the refined "Grecian" silhouette synonymous with the early 19th-century English aesthetic. This piece is a masterclass in elegant proportion, featuring a dipped "scroll" seat and sophisticated out-swept legs.
Constructed with a slender, elegantly curved frame that terminates in graceful scimitar legs. The ends feature finely turned cross-stretchers with ring-turned detailing.
The frame is beautifully embellished with original penwork and polychrome floral decoration. This includes delicate trailing husks on the scrolled arms and a sophisticated frieze of classical floral swags and rosettes across the front rail.
Retains a traditional woven cane (rattan) seat, providing a lightness of form that was highly prized in Regency morning rooms and galleries.
 The timber possesses a warm, honey-toned fruitwood or faux-rosewood finish that serves as a perfect ground for the detailed botanical painting.
Window seats of this refined calibre were designed to be placed within the architectural recesses of grand Regency townhouses. They allowed for unobstructed views while providing elegant, occasional seating. The "dipped" seat design was inspired by the classical klismos chairs of antiquity, popularized in England by designers such as Thomas Hope and George Smith.
While anonymous, the precision of the hand-painted foliate motifs and the quality of the timber joinery suggest a London workshop of high repute, specialising in fine "fancy furniture."
Dealer’s Comments
"There is a particular fragility and lightness to this seat that is quintessential Regency. It is not merely furniture; it is a piece of linear art. The hand-painted decoration is remarkably preserved; you can still see the fine 'penwork' outlines that define the floral swags. It has a wonderful 'lived-in' elegance that only comes from pieces that have been cherished in a private collection for decades. It is the perfect accent piece for a sophisticated hallway or at the foot of a bed."
Condition Report
The seat is in very good antique condition, retaining its structural integrity and original decorative charm.
The polychrome decoration is largely intact, showing honest and attractive "rubbing" in high-contact areas, such as the tops of the scrolls, which confirms its age and authenticity.
The frame shows a light, age-appropriate craquelure to the original varnish and minor surface marks consistent with 200 years of use.
The rattan seat is in excellent, taut condition with no significant breaks or sagging, likely having been professionally recaned in the traditional manner during the 20th century.
The frame is stable and free from significant movement.
Measurement
Height:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 71 cm /Â Â Â Â 28 inch
Width:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 114 cm /Â Â Â 44.9 inch
Depth:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 38 cm /Â Â Â Â 15 inch
Weight:Â Â Â Â Â Â 6.7 k.g. /Â Â Â Â 14.8 lbs
Cleaning, Polishing & Restoration
All our collections have been through our workshop and where possible, we always try to maintain the original finish preserving the patina and colour, some items are sympathetically restored and this is done by our own skilled craftsmen using only traditional methods
