A PAIR OF GEORGE III WALNUT AND ASH ARMCHAIRS
A PAIR OF GEORGE III WALNUT AND ASH ARMCHAIRS
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A PAIR OF GEORGE III WALNUT AND ASH ARMCHAIRS

EAST ANGLIA, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF GEORGE III WALNUT AND ASH ARMCHAIRS
EAST ANGLIA, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Each serpentine cresting rail centered by a circular pierced wheel-form splat, the curved arms with scrolled terminals on incurved supports, the saddles eat raised on turned legs joined by an H-stretcher
Provenance
Acquired from Mallett & Son, London, 1988.
Literature
D. Fennimore et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Decorative Arts, New York, 1992, vol. IV, p. 293, no. 305.
Special notice
This Lot is transferred to Christie’s Redstone Post-Sale Facility in Long Island City after 5.00 pm on the last day of the sale. They will be available at Redstone on the following Monday. Property may be transferred at Christie’s discretion following the sale and we advise that you contact Purchaser Payments on +1 212 636 2495 to confirm your property’s location at any given time. On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the sale of certain lots consigned for sale. This will usually be where it has guaranteed to the Seller that whatever the outcome of the auction, the Seller will receive a minimum sale price for the work. This is known as a minimum price guarantee. This is a lot where Christie’s holds a direct financial guarantee interest.

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Lot Essay

In recent years, Peggy and I have bought relatively little antique furniture, as we had acquired over the years most of the things we needed for our homes in New York, Pocantico Hills, and Seal Harbor. Occasionally, however, when we see a piece which we find exceptionally attractive, we are tempted to buy it. That was the case when I visited Mallet's on a trip to London in March of 1988 and saw this pair of armchairs with unusual circular backs. Fortunately, Peggy liked them as much as I did, and we found a good spot for them in the living room at Ringing Point.
D. R.

This pair of arm chairs, with their incurved arm supports and wheel-form splats, shares characteristics with Mendlesham chairs, although the pronounced splats on this pair is unusual. The so-called Mendlesham chair, named after the Suffolk village around which this East Anglian chair-making tradition was centered, is a very distinctive chair design, though there are detailed variations within the group. For a full discussion, see Dr. B. Cotton, The English Regional Chair, Woodbridge, 1990 pages 241-259.

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