Joined Chair
Joined Chair (Armchair), c.1620A wooden armchair was an exclusive item for the master (sometimes mistress) of the household. Such items were made by specialist craftsmen called ‘joiners’—because of the method of making framed structures held together with joints. Joined items were more costly and desirable than basic furniture and could be enriched further with turned supports and finials (another specialist skill in carpentry, turned on a lathe) and carved decoration.
This chair combines all these features. Middling houses had very few chairs; most people sat on stools or benches. Armchairs symbolised status and authority not only in the domestic context but also in administrative bodies such as town corporations, guilds and church vestry meetings. This example, made by a successful workshop in Salisbury, is a very high-quality item with its level of decoration showing expert craftsmanship. This kind of object would have stood out to all visitors as strikingly new and fashionable.
This object appears in our memory parlour and web tour. Can you find it?
| Object Type | Armchair |
| Year | c.1620 |
| Material | Wood |
| Owned By | SBT 1993-31/4 |
| Keywords | self-fashioning; owning; assets; home; leisure; reputation; wood; joining; householder; furniture |
| Image Credit | Joined chair (c. 1620), SBT 1993-31/4, CC-BY-NC-ND; Image Courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. |