Much of the furniture, here exhibited, was lent to the exhibition at Bethnal Green Museum organized by the Department of Science and Art in 1896.
O. B.
Near the Alcove
Arm-chair, walnut wood, carved with the head of Neptune and acanthus foliage, with front legs in the form of dolphins: upholstered in red velvet, embroidered on the back in coloured silks and silver thread with the arms of the East India Company, 1698 (ar. a cross gu. in the dexter chief quarter an escutcheon of the arms of France and England, quarterly, the shield ornamented and regally crowned or. Crest: a lion ramp. guard. or, supporting between the fore paws a regal crown ppr. Supporters: two lions ramp. guard. or, each supporting a banner erect ar. charged with a cross gu. Motto: auspicio regis et senatus angliæ).
In the “Old India House” this chair was the seat of the Chairman when presiding over the Court of Directors; it is shown in T. H. Shepherd’s drawing in this exhibition, [No. 66]. At the India Office it has been used by each successive Secretary of State for India in Council.
Height, 4 ft. 11½ in.
Middle of the XVIIIth century.
Lent by the Secretary of State for India.