ATTRIBUTED TO HENRY WILLIAM BATLEY FOR JAMES SHOOLBRED & CO.
AESTHETIC MOVEMENT LACQUERED CHAISE, CIRCA 1875
£7,500
Decorative Arts: Design Since 1860
Auction: 11 April 2018 at 12:00 BST
Description
red lacquered wood and upholstery, the padded arm with a pierced panel, the buttoned upholstery with additional bolster cushion, the whole raised on square legs with brass caps and castors, linked by stretchers and fretwork
Dimensions
176cm long, 78cm high, 65cm deep
Footnote
Note: Henry William Batley (1846-1932), one of the great freelance designers of the 19th century, was most widely associated with the Aesthetic Movement. A pupil of Bruce J. Talbert, Batley designed furniture for Collinson & Lock and James Shoolbred & Co. He also designed the interiors for Doulton's terracotta house, which was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 and for which he was to receive the Legion d'Honneur. In 1883 he wrote his 'Series of Studies for Domestic Furniture Decoration Etc.', and in 1908 founded the Guild of Decorators Syndicate Ltd. with the aim of forging close links with commercial furniture and textile manufacturers, in stark contrast to the Arts & Crafts ideals of the time. During the 1870s Batley was apprenticed by Arthur Silver, who in 1880 was to become founder of the Silver Studio. Here Batley has captured the fashionable and exotic Anglo-Japanese aesthetic in his use of linear design elements, fretwork panels and lacquered finish.