CIRCA 1720

In the early 18th century, this elegant form of parlour chair was associated with imports of the East India Companies trading with China and retailed as 'Indian' or 'India-backed', or more simply as 'bended' or 'sweep backed'. The furniture historian Adam Bowett describes the introduction of the pattern as `the most radical and far-reaching design innovation of eighteenth century chair-making' and notes the earliest documented examples at Canons Ashby, 1717 (Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715 - 1740, Woodbridge, 2009, pp. 156 - 160). Bowett illustrates several examples including a side chair with bended back from the Frederick Parker Collection (ibid. p.47, pl. 1.38), while a pair of closely related chairs bearing the trade label of William Old and John Ody have straight backs (ibid. p.160, pl. 4.30).