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Lot # C700

English Jacobean Carved Oak Hall Settle — Henry VIII Portrait Crest View Watchlist >

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Winning Bid: $1,200.00
77 Bid(s) View Bid History
High Bidder: austinfrog

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Lot # C700
System ID # 27244645

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Description

English Jacobean Carved Oak Hall Settle — Henry VIII Portrait Crest

A hall settle is one of the oldest and most distinctly English forms of furniture — a high-backed, fully enclosed wooden seat with arms and storage below, designed specifically to block cold drafts in the stone-floored entrance halls and great rooms of substantial households. Before central heating, the settle was essential: its tall solid back created a warm pocket of air for the seated occupant while the rest of the hall remained cold. The finest examples were commissioned pieces, heavily carved, and placed where visitors would see them first. This is one of those pieces.

Crafted in solid English oak in the Yorkshire tradition — every surface is hand-carved to a quality well above average for the type. The removable top pediment is centered on a bold portrait of Henry VIII: broad-shouldered, flat-capped, holding a glove in one hand and a dagger at his side, flanked by oak leaves and acorns. His silhouette was the most recognized royal image in England for over a century, and placing it at the top of a settle in a family's entrance hall was a deliberate statement of English Protestant identity and loyalty. Below, five arched panels filled with deeply undercut feather and leaf ornament run the full width of the back, topped by a continuous band of interlaced strapwork. The arms terminate in carved figural corbels. Three drawers below the seat retain their original brass teardrop pulls.

The construction throughout is consistent with genuine period origin — hand-forged iron fasteners, deep oxidized grain cracks in the back boards, and aged early repairs that have themselves darkened over generations. Original and unrestored.

CONDITION

Good, original and unrestored, with age-appropriate wear throughout. Carving retains strong definition with a deep, even patina. Visible scuffs, joint separation, and shrinkage cracks are consistent with genuine age. Drawers functional; original brass hardware intact. Sturdy and stable as found.

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