Hall Chair, William Trotter, 1816

This carved mahogany hall chair with intricate rope and anchor design, was made by William Trotter for Trinity House, Edinburgh in 1816.  It is one of a set of six, and is in a typical ‘hall chair’ design, with an elaborate armorial back and solid seat suitable for an entrance hall where users were likely to be seated for a short time and wearing wet outer garments.  The chairs feature the Trinity House emblem, ‘PERVIA VIRTUTI SYDERA TERRA MARE’ (‘The earth, the sea and the stars are conquerable by men of courage.’)

Trinity House is the home of the trade regulation body known as the Incorporation of Ship Owners and Shipmasters. The building, in Leith, built in 1816 to designs by Thomas Brown, is on the site of the former Trinity House, which dates back to the sixteenth century.  The chairs were designed for the new building and Trotter was paid £15 15s in 1817 for the commission.

William Trotter (1772-1833) was Scotland’s most celebrated early nineteenth century cabinetmaker.  His family were long established in trade in Edinburgh and he was a significant figure in the Merchant Company, where he was Master in 1819.  He served as Dean of Guild on the Edinburgh Town Council and Lord Provost.  He operated through various partnerships before setting up a business in own right in 1805, with extensive showrooms at the east end of Princes Street.  The Trinity House hall chair was made at the height of his success, when he was known for restrained neoclassical design.  His commissions included other Edinburgh institutions, such as the Signet Library ca.1822 and domestic customers, such as local M.P. John Home Robertson for Paxton House, a country mansion in Berwickshire, as well as the numerous residents of Edinburgh’s quickly expanding New Town.  Trotter’s vast output was elegant in design and used the best quality woods.

The Trinity House architect, Thomas Brown (1781-1850) was Superintendent of the City Works in Edinburgh from 1819.  He had a large local country house practice and through this and his connection with the council, would have known William Trotter well.   It is possible that Brown designed the hall chairs, though a workshop such as Trotters would have employed many skilled craftsmen, some trained in design at the Trustees Drawing Academy.  Trotter introduced London styles of furniture to Scotland, making use of pattern books such as those produced by Sheraton and Chippendale.  He and other leading cabinetmakers sought to standardise prices and dimensions in the trade, publishing the Edinburgh Cabinet Makers’ Book of Prices from 1805.

Trotter’s celebrated showroom was listed in tourist guides of the period as somewhere to visit when in Edinburgh. According to Thomas Dibden in his 1838 Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour it comprised ‘vistas filled with mahogany and rosewood objects of great temptation.’