An extremely rare, possibly unique, Sri Lankan ebony child’s armchair

H. 55 x W. 40.5 x D. 40.5 cm
Seat height 27.5 cm

The chair is overall densely carved with a scrolling flower motif on four connected turned legs and bun feet, with cane seating. Often, normal-sized furniture with similar bold carvings was made by enslaved people from Bali in the Moluccas, where ebony was abundant in the 17th century. These bold relief carvings are also often seen on ebony furniture from Batavia, made by Tamil woodworkers. However, because this chair turned up in England, it is perhaps more likely to have come from Sri Lanka than from Indonesia.

Jan Veenendaal argued that the inspiration for the carved flower decoration on this type of ebony furniture is from Dutch flower prints. For instance, from Den Blomhof by Crispijn de Passe de Jonge (first edition 1614). He also notes that the flowers are drawn from Dutch kwab or auricular lobed decorated silverware by the Van Vianen brothers, which became very popular in Holland around 1660.
No other chair with such small dimensions is known to us. The carving is of such high quality that it must have been made for a child of exuberantly wealthy parents.

Provenance:
Private collection, England

Sources:
– Jan Veenendaal,Wonen op de Kaap en in Batavia 1602-1795, Titus M. Eliëns ed., Waanders, Zwolle, 2002, pp. 30- 32
– Jan Veenendaal, Aziatische kunst en de Nederlandse Smaak, Waanders, Zwolle, 2014