It is necessary to remember here, that the old oak style did not come to a sudden end when cane chairs were introduced. The solid-backed chair in the Victoria and Albert Museum which is reproduced (Plate lv.2) bears the date of 1670, and if, as seems quite probable, this is an authentic date, it affords a good example of the persistence of the style of the early seventeenth century. We may regard this hybrid chair, then, either as the utmost concession of an old and conservative workman to the new fashion, or else as the first attempt of a younger one to emancipate himself from the pattern of his forefathers, after seeing an example of the new style. Exceptional instances of chairs are likely to occur occasionally. Such, for instance, is a walnut example formerly in the possession of Mr. Stuart S. Samuel, from Old Colne Priory, Essex. The back is formed by a piece of leather stretched between two rectangular uprights, and stamped with a lion, an eagle, and foliage. The seat is also formed of a piece of leather loosely stretched across, and decorated with scroll ornament. A row of four slender turned pilasters connects two straining rails, which join the front legs.

Plate LV.

1 - Arm-Chair, Oak 17th Century

2 - Arm-Chair, Oak " I.P. 1670"

3 - Arm-Chair, Oak I 7th Century

lv. (1) Armchair, oak. Seventeenth century. St. Michael's Church, St. Albans.

By kind permission of the Rector.

(2) Armchair, oak. 'LP. 1670.' Shows flattened

S-curves as top and side pieces. V. & A. M.

Dimensions : Height 53, Breadth 27 inches.

(3) Armchair, oak. Seventeenth century. Shows

S-curves in an arch. V. & A. M.

The arms, supported by prolongations of the perfectly plain front legs, are two broad and flat planks of wood about six inches wide. The legs stand on stretchers which join a back leg to a front, and lie close on the floor. This chair, said to be of about 1650, was exhibited at Bethnal Green in 1896.