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Lot Essay
The fashion for 'French' armchairs with oval or cartouche-shaped padded backs came to dominate during the 1770s, as the lighter 'Roman' neoclassicism promoted through the 'new' architecture of Robert Adam and James Wyatt came to the fore. Thomas Chippendale's embracing of delicate French neoclassicism can be seen through the lens of his most significant commission for Edwin Lascelles, later 1st Baron Harewood, at Harewood House, Yorkshire, where numerous variants of such 'French' chairs were supplied between 1767 and 1778.
As the 1770s progressed, so the designs became lighter, as seen with these chairs. It is particularly interesting to note that whilst solidly English in their interpretation of the French model, there are elements of their construction which suggest the hand of a French émigré craftsman, namely their pegged front legs, only slightly raked back legs and joined toprail. One prominent chairmaker working in London at that time, who may be a candidate, was François Hervé (fl. 1781-1796), who described himself as 'a cabriole chairmaker'. and his extant work displays various similarly non-English features. Hervé also worked for some 'most fashionable and fastidious' patrons including the Prince of Wales, Earl Spencer and the Duke of Devonshire (C. Gilbert [ed.], Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 423), with examples of his work surviving from all three of these collections. A related set of chairs, with pegged construction and square framed patera, attributed to François Hervé, was sold from The Bute Collection, Christie's, London, 3 July 1996, lot 21. A further set of related chairs supplied to Thomas Weld, Esq., for Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in 1775, was sold Christie's, London, 11 April 1991, lot 51.
As the 1770s progressed, so the designs became lighter, as seen with these chairs. It is particularly interesting to note that whilst solidly English in their interpretation of the French model, there are elements of their construction which suggest the hand of a French émigré craftsman, namely their pegged front legs, only slightly raked back legs and joined toprail. One prominent chairmaker working in London at that time, who may be a candidate, was François Hervé (fl. 1781-1796), who described himself as 'a cabriole chairmaker'. and his extant work displays various similarly non-English features. Hervé also worked for some 'most fashionable and fastidious' patrons including the Prince of Wales, Earl Spencer and the Duke of Devonshire (C. Gilbert [ed.], Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 423), with examples of his work surviving from all three of these collections. A related set of chairs, with pegged construction and square framed patera, attributed to François Hervé, was sold from The Bute Collection, Christie's, London, 3 July 1996, lot 21. A further set of related chairs supplied to Thomas Weld, Esq., for Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in 1775, was sold Christie's, London, 11 April 1991, lot 51.