Said to have been used by some of Cromwell's family. (The original in the Author's possession.)
(The original in the possession of T. Knowles Parr, Esq.)
There is in the Historical Portrait Gallery in Bethnal Green Museum, a painting by an unknown artist, but dated 1642, of Sir William Lenthall, who was Speaker of the House of Commons on the memorable occasion when, on the 4th of January in that year, Charles I. entered the House to demand the surrender of the five members. The chair on which Sir William is seated answers this description, and is very similar to the one used by Charles I. (illustrated on page [108]).
The importation of scarce foreign woods gave an impetus to inlaid work in England, which had been crude and rough in the time of Elizabeth. In the marqueterie of Italy, France, Holland, Germany, and Spain, considerable excellence had already been attained. Mahogany had been discovered by Raleigh as early as 1595, but did not come into general use until the middle of the eighteenth century.
During the year 1891, owing to the extension of the Great Eastern Railway premises at Bishopsgate Street, an old house of antiquarian interest was pulled down, and generously presented by the Company to the South Kensington Museum. This has been erected so as to enable the visitor to see a good example of the exterior as well as some of the interior woodwork of a quaint house of the middle of the seventeenth century. It was the residence of Sir Paul Pindar, during the time of Charles I., and it contained a carved oak chimneypiece, with some other good ornamental woodwork of this period.
STAIRCASE IN GENERAL IRETON'S HOUSE, DATED 1630.
In the illustration of a child's chair, which is said to have been used by some of Cromwell's family, can be seen an example of carved oak of this time; it was lent to the writer by its present owner, in whose family it is an heirloom, one of his ancestors having married the Protector's daughter. The ornament has no particular style, and it may be taken for granted that the period of the Commonwealth was not marked by any progress in decorative Art. The illustration of a staircase on p. [110] proves that there were exceptions to the prevalent Puritan objection to figure ornament. In one of Mrs. S. C. Hall's papers, "Pilgrimages to English Shrines," contributed in 1849 to "The Art Journal," she describes the interior of the house which was built for Bridget, the Protector's daughter, who married General Ireton. The handsome oak staircase had the newels surmounted by carved figures, representing different grades of men in the General's army—a captain, common soldier, piper, drummer, etc., etc., while the spaces between the balustrades were filled in with devices emblematical of warfare, the ceiling being decorated in the fashion of the period. At the time Mrs. Hall wrote, the house bore Cromwell's name and the date 1630.
SETTEE AND CHAIR.