Product Description
A charming and unusual antique late Regency/early Victorian child’s correction or deportment chair in mahogany. It features an oblong top rail above carved uprights and stands on turned and reeded out-swept legs united by cross stretchers. With original caned seat and good patina, the reeded legs similar to those found on Gillows chairs of this period. Also, unusually this chair is made out of mahogany, as most correction chairs are made of much cheaper beech and stained or painted to look like rosewood, indicating a good maker.
Correction or Deportment chairs are also known Astley Cooper Chairs named after their inventor Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841). Cooper, a surgeon and anatomist designed these chairs in order to correct faulty posture in children: the design of the chair forces children to sit bolt upright for fear of falling off. Later these chairs became a form of punishment in Victorian classrooms.
Construction/Wood:
Mahogany
Condition Report:
Good colour and patina. Original caned seat. Slight movement to joints to be expected with design and age of his chair. An old filled hole to the seat rail and old mends at he back of the top rail where it attaches to the uprights.
Dimensions:
Height: 97cm
Height to Seat: 53cm
Max Width at Top: 39cm
Width at Seat: 32cm
Max Depth: 40cm
Seat Depth: 28cm