Tulbagh, noun

/ˈtʊlbax//ˈtəlbax/
Origin:
The reason for the name is obscure; see Baraitser & Obholzer quotation, 1971.
Of a style of furniture: usually attributive, especially in the phrase Tulbagh chair, designating an ornate wooden chair with a back consisting of an oval (caned) splat or lozenge supported between ‘barley-sugar’-turned uprights, and with box-shaped stretchers. Also with defining word, transitional Tulbagh, transitional Tulbagh chair, any of several simplified versions of the Tulbagh chair, with straight-sided back panel (or plain vertical splats), and square legs and posts.
1965 M.G. Atmore Cape Furn. 62Many examples of the type [of chair] which developed at the Cape into the so-called ‘Tulbagh’ chair..are known from England, Flanders, Holland, France and Germany...In North America..the closest parallel with the later Colonial ‘Tulbagh’ form is to be found.
1965 M.G. Atmore Cape Furn. 65We left the Transitional Tulbagh type at the stage where it had been simplified to an overall rectangular form with square section legs and box stretcher and back formed from two plain vertical slats, supported between straight rails and enclosed by plain back posts.
1965 A. Gordon-Brown S. Afr. Heritage II. 8 (caption)Small Baroque Stinkwood Table with Beefwood centre, Stinkwood ‘Tulbagh’ Chair.
1967 D. Godfrey Antiques & Bygones 15In chairs the spindle-back type fetched between R30 and R60; traditional Tulbagh, R40 to R50; [etc.].
a1968 Stellenbosch: Oldest Village in S. Afr. (pamphlet) 20The ‘transitional Tulbagh chair’ with its shaped back dates from c.1750 and its turned legs match those of the table.
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. p.xA few ‘Tulbagh’ chairs were doubtless made, but probably not many, for it is a fairly elaborate type. Why..is it called a Tulbagh chair? The name seems to be recent and not traditional. Certainly it has nothing to do with the place of that name. On the other hand, if it has been called after Governor Ryk Tulbagh (1715 to 1771), then it looks like an attempt to date it. But such a date is obviously too late.
1971 L.G. Green Taste of S.-Easter 49There were..the old diningroom chairs known as ‘Tulbagh chairs’ with square legs.
1974 S. Afr. Panorama Dec. 21An antique Tulbagh chair of the 18th century.
1975 Cape Times 7 Jan. 8R2 000 was paid for a pair of antique Dutch high-backed hall chairs. These cane-back chairs are a prototype of the variations of the ‘Tulbagh chair’.
1975 Wine: Guide for Young People (K.W.V.) 69An 18th Century Tulbagh chair of stinkwood.
1985 Cape Times 12 Dec.A set of eight Tulbagh-style riempie dining chairs.
1987 J. Kench Cottage Furn. 32Local variants [of Dutch chairs] included the sturdy Tulbagh chair with its box stretchers, and the so-called Transitional Tulbagh chair.
usually attributive, especially in the phrase Tulbagh chair, designating an ornate wooden chair with a back consisting of an oval (caned) splat or lozenge supported between ‘barley-sugar’-turned uprights, and with box-shaped stretchers. Also with defining word, transitional Tulbagh, transitional Tulbagh chair, any of several simplified versions of the Tulbagh chair, with straight-sided back panel (or plain vertical splats), and square legs and posts.
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19651987

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tula, verb intransitivev.tulip, nounn.
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