Lot Essay
This well-known model forms part of a larger suite of which other examples of library chairs are known. The form is based on a design for a 'French chair' in Thomas Chippendale's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Director, 2nd edn., 1755, pl. XIX, however, the history of these chairs has not been traced.
Chairs of this model are illustrated as follows: H.Cescinsky, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, New York, n.d., p.95, fig.93; A.Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig.189; F.L.Hinckley, A Directory of Queen Anne Early Georgian and Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1971, p.165, fig.248; L.Synge, Mallett's Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p.118, fig.132. Further examples sold at auction include one belonging to Mrs. Robert Tritton, Godmersham Park, Canterbury, Kent, sold Christie's on the Premises, 6-9 1983, lot 165 and subsequently sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 October 1998, lot 339 ($63,000). Another of this model sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1987, lot 105 (illustrated in G.Beard and J.Goodison, eds., English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p.129, fig.5) and a further example was sold Sotheby's London, 5 May 1989, lot 54.
Chairs of this model are illustrated as follows: H.Cescinsky, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, New York, n.d., p.95, fig.93; A.Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig.189; F.L.Hinckley, A Directory of Queen Anne Early Georgian and Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1971, p.165, fig.248; L.Synge, Mallett's Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p.118, fig.132. Further examples sold at auction include one belonging to Mrs. Robert Tritton, Godmersham Park, Canterbury, Kent, sold Christie's on the Premises, 6-9 1983, lot 165 and subsequently sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 October 1998, lot 339 ($63,000). Another of this model sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1987, lot 105 (illustrated in G.Beard and J.Goodison, eds., English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p.129, fig.5) and a further example was sold Sotheby's London, 5 May 1989, lot 54.