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Chair
Designed by Dr Christopher Dresser
(1834-1904)
For the Art Furnishers' Alliance
(1880-83)
Walnut; the contemporary Japanese silk added later
35 in (89 cm) x 19 in (50 cm)
x 15 in (38.4 cm)
English, circa 1880
This chair is one of the group of experimental designs retailed through the short-lived Art Furnishers' Alliance, which had its outlet in New Bond Street, London.
No other example of this model is known to survive, although an ebonised and parcel-gilt version is recorded in the Chubb & Son Archive (see Widar Halén, Christopher Dresser, Oxford, 1990, pp. 72-73).
Although combining elements derived from ancient Greek and Egyptian chairs, Dresser's design has an originality of interpretation that pervades many of his historically-based creations.
For other surviving examples of Dresser's furniture for the Art Furnisher' Alliance see, in particular, Michael Whiteway, Christopher Dresser 1934-1904, Milan, 2001, figs 184, 185, 190, 192 and 193.
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