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Lot Essay
These mahogany side chairs are from a number of sets supplied by William Gomm & Son of Clerkenwell Close to Edward Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh for Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire during a period of modernization of the mansion in 1763-64. Intended as part of the bedroom furnishings in the wing designed by the architect Francis Smith of Warwick, these chairs were Gomme's more expensive model, priced at 25s a piece, as specified in the cabinet-maker’s bill dated 12 May 1763 to 19 October 1764, receipted on 12 December 1765.
Gomm’s restrained manner in these chairs and other bedroom furniture at Stoneleigh bears comparison with the similarly sober but well-made furniture supplied by Chippendale. The ‘Chinese’ blind fret-carved legs, and stretchers relate to those found on a set of furniture comprising sixteen mahogany dining-chairs, four rectangular stools and a pair of card tables almost certainly supplied to George Weller-Poley of Boxted Hall, Suffolk in the 1760s (sold Christie’s, London, 3 July 1997, lots 20-23).
Gomm’s restrained manner in these chairs and other bedroom furniture at Stoneleigh bears comparison with the similarly sober but well-made furniture supplied by Chippendale. The ‘Chinese’ blind fret-carved legs, and stretchers relate to those found on a set of furniture comprising sixteen mahogany dining-chairs, four rectangular stools and a pair of card tables almost certainly supplied to George Weller-Poley of Boxted Hall, Suffolk in the 1760s (sold Christie’s, London, 3 July 1997, lots 20-23).