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Lot Essay
The chair'’s Roman 'curule' pattern was published by the connoisseur Thomas Hope in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807 (pl. 20, no. 5), and a chair after this design has been recorded with the early 19th century journeyman's brand of B. Harmer (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, fig. 474).
W. J. Mansell of Fulham Road and Redcliffe Gardens traded as a 'cabinet maker dealer in superior, antique and modern furniture' in the early 20th century. The branded number is likely to be that of Messrs. James Shoolbred & Co. of Tottenham Court Road. They expanded from a small draper business and started to manufacture high quality furniture circa 1870, for which they were given a Royal warrant by the mid-1880s.
W. J. Mansell of Fulham Road and Redcliffe Gardens traded as a 'cabinet maker dealer in superior, antique and modern furniture' in the early 20th century. The branded number is likely to be that of Messrs. James Shoolbred & Co. of Tottenham Court Road. They expanded from a small draper business and started to manufacture high quality furniture circa 1870, for which they were given a Royal warrant by the mid-1880s.