ATTRIBUTED TO ELWARD, MARSH & TATHAM, CIRCA 1802

The chairs, with their tablet rails, hollowed seats and scrolled and sunk-fluted legs, relate closely to a suite of dining-chairs from Brabourne Manor, Kent bearing the brand of B. Harmer, who worked as a journeyman for Elward, Marsh and Tatham (see C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 33, fig. 478 and the Powderham suite of seat furniture sold by Lord Courtenay, Christie's, London, 5 July 1990, lots 50-51 and 5 December 1991, lots 222-223). They also relate to a hall chair, bearing a talbot crest, sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 16 September 1999, lot 9. The latter in turn relate to the hall seats supplied in 1802 by Elward, Marsh and Tatham, which are likely to have been intended for George, Prince of Wales's Marine Pavilion at Brighton (M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture, London, 1965, p. 56, fig. 102).