George III Mahogany Side Chair with Monogram

• Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
  
  Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
• Provenance - A term used to describe the provable history of an antique or work of art, and thus an additional aid to verifying its authenticity. Provenance can have an inflating effect on the price of an item, particularly if the provenance relates to the early settlement of Australia, a famous person, or royalty. Less significant are previous sales of the item through an auction house or dealer.
• Horsehair - Horsehair fabric is a woven textile made from the mane and tail hair of horses, used in upholstery in the 19th century, when it was a staple of high-end furniture production.
  
  The hair is collected from horses by grooming or clipping the mane and tail. It is then washed and sorted, with longer strands usually reserved for the warp (lengthwise) threads and shorter ones for the weft (crosswise) threads. The horsehair is then spun into yarn and woven into a durable, tightly-woven fabric with a distinctive texture. Horsehair fabric has a natural lustre and is known for its resilience and durability, making it an ideal material for upholstery.
• Rail - A term used by cabinet makers for the horizontal sections of the frame of an item such as a chair or settee which have a front rail, a back rail and two side rails, and also on a door or carcase, where the rails are joined to the vertical framings.
• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• Marquetry - In marquetry inlay, contrasting woods, and other materials such as ivory, shell and metal are inlaid either as panels or in a single continuous sheet over the surface of the piece. The design may be straightforward, such as a shell pattern or a basket of flowers, or it may be infinitely complex, with swirling tendrils of leaves, flowers and foliage, such as one finds, for example, in the "seaweed" patterns on longcase clocks of the William and Mary and Queen Anne periods.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• chairs, singles - Georgian 542
• chairs, singles / pairs / threes, timber - mahogany 1,098