Lot Essay
Engraved patterns for elaborately fretted chairs apppeared in the First Book of Ornament, 1741, published by the ornamentalist William de la Cour (d.1767) who was associated with the avant-garde group of artists in the St. Martin's Lane Academy and was active in establishing the rococo style in England in the 1740s. The ultimate expression of his style is in designs published by the cabinet-maker Robert Manwaring in 'The Chair-Maker's Guide' of 1766, pls. 49-54, 59 and 74. All the available information about Manwaring, including the statement that he was a cabinet-maker with his own premises in London, is derived from his own publications. However, the boldness of his designs, and of these chairs, makes it impossible to discount his claim of the designs that 'they are actually Originals, and not pirated or copied', adding 'there are very few designs advanced, but what he has either executed himself, or seen completely finished by others'.
The closest parallel to these chairs is the pair from St. Giles's House, Dorset, that were sold from the Samuel Messer Collection, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991. The St. Giles's chairs are convincingly attributed to William Hallett, the leading cabinet-maker of the 1740s and to whom several payments are recorded in the St. Giles's Household Account Book in 1745-52. The similarity between the legs and feet of the two pairs of chairs is very striking indeed and it would seem probable that they are by the same maker.
The 1813 inventory of Grimsthorpe is tantalisingly vague about stylistic details of sets of chairs. The Tapestry Bedroom, the room in which these chairs were photographed in 1928, contained in 1813:
6 Richly carved Mahogany chairs with stuff'd seats cover'd with marone Velvet and Brass nailed.
These can be discounted because of the brass nails which could not have appeared on chairs with drop-in seats. In the Lower West Blue Bedroom were:
6 mahogany chairs carv'd backs and stuffd seats cover'd with Drab emboss'd Velvet in suite with the Bed Furniture.
The bed itself was described as 'A 6 feet Mahogany Bedstead on strong French castors, a set of japanned cornice and handsome furniture of Drab emboss'd Velvet lined with blue calico, the whole finished with blue and black fringe. This desciption, and that of other furniture in the room, suggests an exotically dark colour scheme into which these chairs might have fitted. Sadly there is no reference to their Chinoiserie ornament which would have confirmed their location in the house.
The closest parallel to these chairs is the pair from St. Giles's House, Dorset, that were sold from the Samuel Messer Collection, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991. The St. Giles's chairs are convincingly attributed to William Hallett, the leading cabinet-maker of the 1740s and to whom several payments are recorded in the St. Giles's Household Account Book in 1745-52. The similarity between the legs and feet of the two pairs of chairs is very striking indeed and it would seem probable that they are by the same maker.
The 1813 inventory of Grimsthorpe is tantalisingly vague about stylistic details of sets of chairs. The Tapestry Bedroom, the room in which these chairs were photographed in 1928, contained in 1813:
6 Richly carved Mahogany chairs with stuff'd seats cover'd with marone Velvet and Brass nailed.
These can be discounted because of the brass nails which could not have appeared on chairs with drop-in seats. In the Lower West Blue Bedroom were:
6 mahogany chairs carv'd backs and stuffd seats cover'd with Drab emboss'd Velvet in suite with the Bed Furniture.
The bed itself was described as 'A 6 feet Mahogany Bedstead on strong French castors, a set of japanned cornice and handsome furniture of Drab emboss'd Velvet lined with blue calico, the whole finished with blue and black fringe. This desciption, and that of other furniture in the room, suggests an exotically dark colour scheme into which these chairs might have fitted. Sadly there is no reference to their Chinoiserie ornament which would have confirmed their location in the house.