Elizabeth I / James I Ash Turned Armchair of Triangular Form

An Elizabeth I / James I ash turned armchair of triangular form, the frame ingeniously constructed with a triangular seat supported by column-turned legs joined by peripheral stretchers. The uprights rise into boldly turned finials, the back surmounted by a horizontal turned crest-rail and centred by a robust vertical turned column with radiating spindles forming a fan-like back.
This remarkable chair belongs to the rare group of triangular, turned-seat armchairs made in England in the late 16th century, of which very few examples survive. Its compact yet commanding form suggests use as a seat of distinction within a private chamber rather than for communal or hall use. The boldness of its turning, the use of native ash with its distinct graining, and the triangular innovation mark it as an outstanding product of Elizabethan joinery.
Comparable examples are illustrated in Tobias Jellinek, Early British Chairs and Seats 1500–1700 (Woodbridge, 2009), plate 195, p.166, where he notes their rarity and importance in the history of English seating furniture.