The acanthus-enriched frame is designed in the George III 'antique' style in the French manner promoted by George, Prince of Wales in the early 1780s. Its Roman pelta-shield back with Grecian palmette finial between husk-enriched scrolls and its seat-rail enriched with a flowered libation-patera draped with a veil festoon featured in designs for 'cabriole' chairs and sofas published by A. Hepplewhite & Co. in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788, pls. 10,11 and 23. This style of chair also relates closely to the furniture designs of the architect James Wyatt (d. 1813), such as feature in his room elevation dating from the 1780s and illustrated in J. Cornforth and J. Fowler, English Decoration in the 18th Century, London, 1974, fig. 13. Two pairs of chairs that exactly follow Wyatt's design were sold from the collection of the late Sir Michael Sobell, in these Rooms, 23 may 1994, lots 104-105.
A pair of chairs from this suite was sold by the Executors of the late Mrs. Robert Tritton, Godmersham Park, Kent, Christie's house sale, 6-9 June 1983, lot 125