In mahogany, inlaid with satinwood, the open, oval back carved with the Prince of Wales' Feathers and drapery, the seat upholstered. English, c. 1787-90 This chair pattern, with a heart-shaped back incorporating the Prince of Wales feathers, was very popular in the late 1780s and 1790s, and was probably manufactured by several different firms. The firm of Gillow & Company, of Lancaster and London, were making chairs of this type, which they called ‘Drapery and feather back’, by 1788. The design may have been suggested by the fact that, in 1787, the Prince of Wales took power as Regent when his father, George III, suffered a temporary bout of insanity as a result of the illness porphyria. A design for this kind of chair back is also painted on a pattern board in the Museum that was used to show different ways of decorating such a chair (Museum no. W.11-1993) and another version of the design is also in the Museum's collection (Museum no. 1458-1904). It was clearly popular because another version, without the drapery, was published in another pattern book as late as 1802. An open armchair with oval, pierced back, carved with the Prince of Wales' feathers and with drapery. The seat is rounded at the back and serpentine on the front edge. Both the seat rail and the frame of the back are fluted. The legs are turned and tapering, decorated above baluster-turned feet with fluting, and a carved collar at the top of each front leg, showing guilloche below upright leaf motif. The block above each front leg is inlaid with an oval paterae of segments of satinwood. The back legs, heavily raked, are fluted and turned as the front legs but are not carved.