16th -17th century 3 legged captains armchair

In paintings of the period, this is what one usually sees in terms of 3 leg seating furniture, "turned" and not "joined" as OP chair is. I am not saying period paintings of interior scenes with these "captain chairs" don't exist, i am saying i am not aware of any and, that's a problem. Course it is european, Dutch in particular which is out of my field of knowledge.
Still, as of today, I'd guess these "captains chair" are 19th century victorian era chairs which is EXACTLY where i came into this thread.

Brothel 1562



Peasants 1661

Photo of Morning Room with 17th century furniture

 

I tried that, I typed in "chairs" in the search box and got 404! Go Away! i think in Dutch!

 

Mumble, mumble, tag AJ, mumble mumble.

Ok, here is a translation of the text in the Dutch book.
The caption to the left of the chair reads:
"Ship's chair, Middelburg, Nutwood, Date 1621, Dimensions unknown."

A ship's chair would be a captain's chair, except they were not just used by the captains.

"Here we would also like to describe a rare ship's chair which is in a private collection. This armchair stand on three legs so it can be stable on rocking ship. The back leg consists of a straight post to which the back and seat are attached. The bent front legs have the same volute shape halfway up the inside as the church chairs and the folding chair described above. The back, which continues in the arm rests, is made of two flat, bent parts which are attached to two straight front posts and the extended back leg...."

Taking a bit of a rest now, to be continued.....

 

OK, now we are getting somewhere!
It appears to me that the authors did not examine this chair personally as the dimensions are unknown, not a good sign.

 

I don't think anyone has seen this chair for quite some time. Either they didn't ask to see it, or the owner (van Isacker?) didn't want to show it, which would be strange.

Anyway, we were on the back leg.

"In between are ten baluster-turned bars. The wooden seat rests on a frame.
The two halves of the back are kept together by a rather thin plank, among others, which is glued to it."
(Don't blame the translator, it doesn't say what 'others' is, or what it is glued to exactly.)
"The plank, the front of the legs and the support under the front of the seat are carved in bas relief. It consists of vines and leaves and flowerbaskets, just like on the friezes of Holland kasten of the period. The straight posts, the back and arm rests, are decorated with stylised leaf motifs.
But what makes this chair so special is the dating on the front legs. On the left is a shield with 16 and on the right 21. Moreover the crest of Middelburg is carved in the relief at the top of the back rest, in the centre.
No doubt this chair once belonged to a wealthy Middelburg ship owner."

Middelburg is the capital of the province of Zeeland, in the southeast of the Netherlands. This is the crest:


More examples here:
https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Middelburg_(Zeeland)

 

With a name like Jean-Marie van Isacker he is either from the south of the Netherlands, where he currently lives, or from the north of Belgium. In either case his native language would be Dutch/Flemish, not Danish.
Surnames starting with 'van' are originally from the Low Countries.

 

There is something wrong here, i see no similar examples of this form chair in period Dutch fine art and, there should be. It is simply not credible that guys like Rembrandt & Vermeers would "miss" details like that. This was the Dutch "Golden Age" after all! they were proud to show off their cultural influence in fine art, pottery & furniture, there should be similar examples and, as far as i know, there isn't.

 

Holland painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer may not have known these chairs if they were typical for Zeeland and Zeeland ships.

 

OK, I am not sure what all that means exactly (lol, bunch of dang foreigners) show me ANY period drawing or painting that depicts similar form chairs.

 

I am so impressed with everyone here and their detective work! I received this little bit of information in my last correspondence with National Trust Chartwell on Winston's chair "it is either late 16th century or 17th century and was a gift from General Sir Ian Hamilton. The chair is inlaid with trophies and armorials and the seat has a central medallion with a portrait of Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter" . I did a short web search on this info and was unable learn anything enlightening.

 

Sorry, I am not buying any of this, it has all the earmarks of old furniture myths.

baluster turned bars? bars? You mean spindles?
It seems to me none of these chairs has been examined by folks that are qualified in this field, even the the description terminology is wrong. If one can't even accurately describe the object..................

 

I imagine that's why the owner of the chair (whoever it is) hired this Isacker guy to figure out what it is? He calls himself an appraiser and consultant in European furniture. It doesn't look to me like he is selling this chair, only describing it as a piece he is researching, though maybe I missed something.

Which does make me wonder why the OP is asking about the chair - is he the owner or a potential buyer (or Isacker himself)? If you're looking for a chair to reproduce, I wouldn't think you'd want to pick one that is covered with hand carving?

 

Hi Jeff, I do not own the chair nor am I looking to buy the chair. I'm just a wood worker who looks for pieces I find appealing to reproduce. I wouldn't be reproducing the carving aspect, just the general appearance with some inlay. I am just trying to found out as much as possible about the chair, the history and origins always add to the fascination of it all.

 

Yes it does, lol. 960 EUR in 2004, not exactly a high dollar object from a dealer in Amsterdam, no provenance, no detailed description, not even what the wood species is.

 

I think the Christie's listing may shed some light here, and support James' belief that this may not be of the period, at least that is the way I read it. From the listing "A DUTCH COLONIAL CAPTAIN'S CHAIR - DATED 1621"

Dutch colonial covers a large time period, and stating "dated 1621" is not the same as stating "early 17th century", which would imply they agree with the dating. In my experience you have to read auction listings pretty carefully.

I had my doubts from the pictures here too, though inclusion in the book is the best evidence that it may be period. Do we know when the book was published - oh I see 2011, so after it was auctioned at Christies. I think it may still be inconclusive. In addition to Isacker, it would be smart for the owner to talk to the author of the book.

 

I was playing with some download PDF links and this one appears to have a free online download.....you have to sign up though.....LOOKS LIKE there are no costs and no catches.....read ALL the books you want.....but looks like you have total access to the 518 page book......you just won't OWN it........

http://danielekorthout.tk/download/...en-van-renaissance-tot-vroege-barok-1550-1670

 

That's it, I kept thinking wasn't there another word? So baluster turned spindles. Today is one of those brain freeze days.

James, you asked about paintings.
Of course there were painters in Zeeland, where both chairs seem to be from. The Chartwell chair has a central medallion with a portrait of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, who was also from Zeeland. In fact he was from Vlissingen, where van Isacker currently lives.
I don't know the names of any Zeeland painters, they were not very well known, but you could google them. Another possibility is to research paintings of the Antwerp School. Antwerp is much closer to both Middelburg and Vlissingen than Amsterdam, and it would have been considered the nearest big city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antwerp_school

During the 16th-17th centuries the Low Countries were partitioned in many ways. They were at war with the Spanish at the time.
While Amsterdam was getting rich from overseas trade (partly stolen from the Hanseatic League), other parts of the country were struggling to survive the horrors of wave after wave of occupation by one army or another. Some Holland towns supported the struggle of the other regions some of the time, other times they just couldn't care about the very lands that helped liberate Holland.
That is why it is possible that the Holland painters would have had no idea of Zeeland furniture.

Of the Holland painters Vermeer was the only one who made a political statement, when he painted a map of the entire Low Countries in the background of this painting. On its side.


The history of the Low Countries, and the influence it still has today, is complicated.