English Upholstered Furniture 1680-1850
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Glasgow Museums has a substantial collection of English needlework upholstered furniture, dated from 1680-1850. This includes upholstered couches, settees, sofas, stools, elbow chairs, and armchairs. Suites of upholstered furniture became popular on the European continent in the seventeenth century, leading to the development of interior schemes featuring bed and window curtains, wall hangings, and upholstered furniture. This fashionable interior style, particularly for furniture covered in needlework or tapestry textiles, developed in England by the late seventeenth century. Late seventeenth and early eighteenth examples of upholstered furniture in Glasgow Museums feature embroidery top covers, often in tent or cross stitch, with designs such as flowers, pastoral landscapes with figures and animals, or bible scenes. Chinoiserie decorative styles and ‘bizarre’ embroidery designs are also found. Tapestry material is also found on Glasgow Museums upholstered furniture of the eighteenth century, created, or emulating the textiles produced in the Soho tapestry workshops, London. The vast majority of the English upholstered furniture collection from this date range was acquired by Sir William Burrell (1861-1958), and his wife Constance, Lady Burrell (1875-1961), used in their home, Hutton Castle, outside Berwick-Upon-Tweed, in the Scottish Borders.
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