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Lot Essay
This set of Regency mahogany and ebony dining-chairs corresponds to a drawing in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book for 22 July 1805. They are designed in the fashionable Greek revival style promoted by Thomas Hope in his ‘A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration' (1807). Hope’s designs were highly influential and inspired the work of other architect / furniture designers including George Smith whose published work comprised designs for drawing room chair profiles related to the present example (C. V. Hershey, George Smith`s Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, London, 1970, pl. 55). A virtually identical set of eighteen dining-chairs from the collection of the Earls of Lonsdale at Lowther Castle, Westmorland, sold Christie’s, London, 20 September 2001, lot 171 (£37,600 including premium).
MARSH, JONES & CRIBB
The partnership of Marsh, Jones & Cribb of Leeds was the successor as of 1864 to an earlier firm, Thomas Kendall, established in 1790; in 1791, Kendall signed the dedication of The Leeds Cabinet and Chair-makers Book of Prices (L. Boynton, ‘High Victorian Furniture: The example of Marsh and Jones of Leeds’, Furniture History, vol. 3, 1967, p. 61). Between 1818 and 1822, Kendall supplied a variety of furniture for Harewood House (ibid.). They also repaired and reupholstered 19 chairs, apparently those supplied by Chippendale for the Steward’s room. The business was subsequently inherited by John Kendall from whom it was acquired by John Marsh and Edward Jones in 1864. In 1872, Cribb joined the firm as a partner, and henceforth it was known as Marsh, Jones & Cribb. With the firm's history of re-upholstering and repairing earlier furniture, it is likely that the workshop was commissioned to extend and improve the original set of thirteen dining chairs.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON OF LEEDS
The 1881 census makes first mention of William Richardson, born circa 1836, as a ‘Master Furniture Paintr [sic] (Cabinet) (Dealer)’. In the 1908 Kelly’s Directory, Leeds, he was firmly established at 7 and 12 Park Lane and 8 Centenary Street, Leeds, and described as a ‘Cabinet maker and Upholsterer’, and by 21 October 1928 the premises, by then a substantial House and Office Furniture emporium, appeared in a photograph now held in the Leeds Photographic Archive. It is probable that this set of chairs was retailed by William Richardson of Leeds.
MARSH, JONES & CRIBB
The partnership of Marsh, Jones & Cribb of Leeds was the successor as of 1864 to an earlier firm, Thomas Kendall, established in 1790; in 1791, Kendall signed the dedication of The Leeds Cabinet and Chair-makers Book of Prices (L. Boynton, ‘High Victorian Furniture: The example of Marsh and Jones of Leeds’, Furniture History, vol. 3, 1967, p. 61). Between 1818 and 1822, Kendall supplied a variety of furniture for Harewood House (ibid.). They also repaired and reupholstered 19 chairs, apparently those supplied by Chippendale for the Steward’s room. The business was subsequently inherited by John Kendall from whom it was acquired by John Marsh and Edward Jones in 1864. In 1872, Cribb joined the firm as a partner, and henceforth it was known as Marsh, Jones & Cribb. With the firm's history of re-upholstering and repairing earlier furniture, it is likely that the workshop was commissioned to extend and improve the original set of thirteen dining chairs.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON OF LEEDS
The 1881 census makes first mention of William Richardson, born circa 1836, as a ‘Master Furniture Paintr [sic] (Cabinet) (Dealer)’. In the 1908 Kelly’s Directory, Leeds, he was firmly established at 7 and 12 Park Lane and 8 Centenary Street, Leeds, and described as a ‘Cabinet maker and Upholsterer’, and by 21 October 1928 the premises, by then a substantial House and Office Furniture emporium, appeared in a photograph now held in the Leeds Photographic Archive. It is probable that this set of chairs was retailed by William Richardson of Leeds.