Regency Period Brass Inlaid Simulated Rosewood Chaise Longue

No:11252 A very stylish Regency Period Brass Inlaid Simulated Rosewood scroll arm and back Chaise Longue, the upholstery, bolsters and buttoned seat cushion in a pale green velvet, on sabred feet and castors. The brass cups and casters are stamped “B S & C P Patent” with a crown over. This may well be a Birmingham Brass Foundry “B S” who were making Cope’s patented Casters under licence, hence the “C P Patent”. The crown above indicates that this was an accepted and issued Patent. The patina on this example is excellent with only a few areas of rubbing on the simulation. A comparable example is stamped by Wilkinson of Ludgate Hill. Notes: During the Regency Period, Rosewood was often the choice for fashionable furniture and demand meant that it became very expensive as an exotic, imported timber. It is also a very dense, heavy wood and seldom used in the solid as pieces would have been extremely difficult to deliver and move. The top London makers therefore resorted to making chairs, stools and settees in beech and, as we read in Ackermann’s Repository of the Arts in 1814, “ may be stained black or as the present taste is, veined with vitriol, stained with logwood, and polished to imitate rosewood.” It is also interesting to note from Margaret Jourdain’s “Regency Furniture” where she states, “ The presence of this brass inlay on furniture may suggest an origin in London, for such metal work was a specialised trade, carried on in the neighbourhood of St Martin’s Lane and Long Acre.” Lit: Margaret Jourdain, “Regency Furniture” pp 43, 55-60. Thomas Hope, “Household Furniture and Interior Decoration” Plate 28, fig 2 & 3, Plate 41, fig 8. Edward T Joy, “English Furniture 1800 – 1851.” pp 21, 34, 268-271”Staining, graining and marbling.” Ackermann’s “Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions &c” Plates 1, 25, 42 & 145, Thomas Sheraton, “The cabinet-maker and upholsterer’s drawing-book” states that the term “Couch” emanates from the French “Coucher” to lie down. Ralph Edwards “The Dictionary of English Furniture” Vol.2, pp 134-146, figs.23-26. Gilbert “Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840.” pp 475. Fig 967