Rare 17Thc Welsh Painted Pine Settle C.1660–80

The wonderfully primitive seventeenth century Welsh boarded settle, of unusually architectural form and retaining extensive early russet red and ochre painted decoration, having an exceptionally tall back constructed from three recessed vertical fielded panels within a substantial boarded frame, rising at either end to distinctive shaped finials, the broad plank seat flanked by sweeping open arms terminating in rounded hand rests, each supported by turned uprights, the whole raised upon simple square legs joined by low stretchers and surviving from the Charles II period.

The surface is particularly remarkable, retaining layers of deeply time-worn ochre and rich red-brown paint, rubbed through naturally over centuries of use to expose earlier colour and timber beneath. The resulting surface has enormous depth, with pronounced wear to the seat, arms, feet and other contact points. The reverse retains a contrasting muted painted finish and reveals the straightforward panelled construction particularly well. There are the expected knocks, abrasions, shrinkage, old splits, movement and historic repairs associated with a piece of this age; these form an important part of its character and have not been disguised by later restoration.

Such settles were fundamentally practical pieces of vernacular furniture, providing both seating and protection from draughts within the domestic interior. This example’s exceptionally high back and enclosed construction give it an almost room-dividing architectural quality, while its simple panelled treatment and lack of fashionable ornament place it firmly within the tradition of British provincial furniture. The survival of such extensive early painted surface is considerably more interesting than a stripped or heavily restored example.

A superb and highly atmospheric piece of seventeenth century Welsh vernacular furniture, possessing exactly the qualities sought in early country pieces: primitive construction, sculptural form, honest wear and an extraordinarily evocative painted surface.