Armchair with early sprung padding

Unknown1830/1839

Nordiska Museet
Stockholm, Sweden

Armchair, neo-baroque, end of the 1830s, mahogany with embroidered original upholstery.

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Details

Title: Armchair with early sprung padding
Creator: Unknown
Date Created: 1830/1839
Use: Salsta, Sweden
Subject: Armchair, neo-baroque
Physical Dimensions: w63 x h102 x d54 cm
More Information: Armchair from Salsta Palace in Uppland, from the late 1830s. One of the oldest known examples of preserved sprung padding in Sweden. The chair seat is highly padded made with sixteen hand-forged springs resting on the webbing. In the 1830s, sprung padding was considered revolutionary. When this chair was delivered to Salsta, it must have seemed the height of modernity. This new padding technique was not known in Sweden until the latter part of the 1840s and then only in lavish surroundings. Previously chairs were hard, with flat upholstery. With the new technology, armchairs and sofas offered a brand new level of seating comfort, with arched and comfortably sprung seats. A high level of professional knowledge was required among upholsterers to lace down the springs to acquire the correct height and position. Although the model still retains something of the late Empire style neat design and carpentry work, it was inspired by seventeenth century baroque chairs. It has spiral turn legs and a back made from mahogany and embroidered original upholstery. It is a very early example of nineteenth century neo-baroque. At this time Salsta Palace was owned by Count Magnus Brahe. It is clear from his Skokloster estate that he often used the same suppliers and artisans as the royal palaces. A similar chair, although with different embroidery, is in King Karl XIV Johan's writing room at Rosendal Palace in Stockholm. It is documented in Rosendal Palace's inventory for 1837. Provenance: Count Magnus Brahe, Salsta Palace, Uppland, Sweden.
Materials and Techniques: Mahogany, silk, wool
Type: Furniture
Rights: Photo: Peter Segemark, © Nordiska museet
External Link: http://www.digitaltmuseum.se/things/stol/S-NM/NM.0328347

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Chair Furniture