English Furniture 1603-1850

Comments

Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 350 items of English furniture dating from between 1603 and 1850.This collection includes chairs, settees, court cupboards, stools, beds, daybeds, side-tables, fire-screens, small tables, dining tables, bureaus, chests of drawers, long-case clocks, and looking-glasses. The vast majority of the English furniture collection from this date range was acquired by Sir William Burrell (1861-1958), and his wife Constance, Lady Burrell, used in their home, Hutton Castle, outside Berwick-Upon-Tweed, in the Scottish Borders. Of the early Jacobean (1603-1625) and Carolean furniture (1625-1649), there are dining tables, elaborately carved court cupboards, chairs, and chests, with fine examples produced in oak with marquetry inlay. Included in the Restoration period (1666-1685) furniture examples, there is a remarkable collection of chairs including the largest and finest group of walnut and caned chairs found in the UK, after the Victoria and Albert Museum, and turkey-work and needlework upholstered chairs and settees. Later English mahogany and walnut furniture from the Queen Anne and early Georgian periods also form part of the Burrell furniture collection, including upholstered chairs and settees, bureaus, tables, mirrors, and cabinets dating around 1700-1760. At Pollok House, there are fine examples of furniture from the George III period, dating from 1760s onwards. These items were part of the historic furnishings of the house and were included in Dame Anne Maxwell Macdonald's gift of the house and policies in 1966.

Broader term

European Furniture, Woodwork and Interiors 1603-1850

Narrower term

English Turkey-work Upholstered Furniture 1620-1680

English Upholstered Furniture 1680-1850

English Walnut and Cane Furniture 1660-1725

Staff Contact

Laura Bauld

Key Objects

Key Objects