CIRCA 1765

Three different types of 'French elbow chair' were among the furniture supplied for Hackwood in the early 1760s. The 'French' description used in the 1765 inventory refers to their rococo style, and particularly the cabriole leg, rather than their place of manufacture. The inventory lists the chairs in four rooms, but makes no distinction between the specific types. The most ornate model was visible in early photographs of interiors at Hackwood, but none was included in Christie's house sale in 1998. Of the other two types the present lot, with straight seat rails, was one pair among seven chairs offered, lots 79 - 82 (sold £58,700, £65,300, £43,300, and £9,775 including premium respectively), while another single chair with a serpentine rail was lot 83 (sold £10,925 including premium).
A pair of armchairs conceivably from the same suite was exhibited by Peter Lipitch Limited, at the Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, 1995, and illustrated in the handbook, p.154.