A GEORGE III MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR

CIRCA 1790

Details

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR
CIRCA 1790
The frame carved with entrelac, the shield-shaped back with five reeded and foliate-clasped splats terminating in a fan medallion, with downswept arms, the padded seat covered in blue silk damask, on turned tapering reeded legs headed by rectangular panels with flowerheads, on pinched feet, with batten carrying-holes

Provenance

CHAIRS FROM THE SET:

F. Snook, Esq., circa 1908.
Francis Mallett, Esq., circa 1924.
J. Rochelle Thomas, 1928 (a set of eight).

Subsequently, various chairs from the set have been recorded:

One chair:
- with Mallett, 1950.
- Noel G. Terry, the collection at Fairfax House, Yorkshire.
A second chair:
- Percy Dalton, The Hall, Burley in Wharfedale, Yorkshire.
- with Ayer and Co. (Antiques) Ltd., Bath, circa 1962.
A single:
- with H. Blairman and Sons, London, pre-1968
A set of four chairs:
- Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 8 October 1965, lot 117 (to F. Partridge for £7,280).
A pair of chairs:
- Arthur Leidesdorf; 'A Collection of English Furniture, Barometers & Clocks, formed by a Gentleman residing in New York', 27-28 June 1974, lot 147 (to Dresser for £4,700).
- with Partridge, London, 1994 (illustrated in Recent Acquisitions, 1994, no. 16, pp. 44-45).
Another single:
- with Partridge, London, 2001 (illustrated in English Furniture and Works of Art, 2001, no. 39, pp. 94-95).

Literature

CHAIRS FROM THE SET:

P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture: The Age of Satinwood, London and New York, 1908, p. 188 (F. Snook, Esq.).
P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, 1924, vol. I, p. 253, fig. 142 (Francis Mallett) (this is the same chair as above).
R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. I, p. 295, fig. 219 (Coppinger Prichard Collection).
C. Musgrave, Adam and Hepplewhite and other neo-classical Furniture, London, 1966, fig. 78 (H. Blairman and Sons). P. Brown, ed., The Noel Terry Collection of Furniture & Clocks, London, 1987, no. 68, p. 68.

Exhibited

London, Grafton Galleries, Art Treasures Exhibition, 1928, no. 167 (a set of eight).
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, C.I.N.O.A. International Art Treasures Exhibition, 1962, no. 77, pl. 51, with Ayer & Co. (Antiques) Ltd., Bath (a single chair).

Lot Essay

The design for this chair is derived from a pattern published in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788, pl. 9. The pattern book was published by I. & J. Taylor from drawings by George Hepplewhite's widow, Alice Hepplewhite. The firm had been established by George Hepplewhite (d.1786), who claimed to have been employed by George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV and may have supplied furniture for his apartments at Buckingham House, now Palace, London.

The chair forms part of a larger set, since separated, comprising at at least eight armchairs which remained together until 1928. Examples of this model have appeared in various notable publications and collections. One example was published in The Age of Satinwood of 1908, in which Percy Macquoid notes 'This is a chair of great finish, and if designed by Hepplewhite, unusually perfect in all its proportions, and so good are these that the design is more suggestive of Adam than this maker' (p. 188).

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