Pair of James I Upholstered Low Chairs

A pair of joined oak low chairs, retaining their original early 17th-century velvet upholstery and decorative crimson fringe. The square oak frames are constructed with columnar legs joined by moulded stretchers, and a plain front seat rail. Each chair has a rectangular upholstered back panel above a broad seat, still furnished with its original padded cushions, covered in crimson velvet with applied woven fringe, and secured with original hand-wrought nails.
The use of velvet, one of the most luxurious textiles of the Stuart court, alongside the low form of the chairs, places them in a rarefied category of early upholstered furniture almost entirely absent from surviving English domestic interiors. Such chairs were costly items reserved for elite households, providing comfort and status at a time when most seating remained board-seated.

Provenance: Mary Bellis Antiques; sold Sotheby’s, 1992, lot 31.