CIRCA 1740

Details

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR
CIRCA 1740
The waved toprail with pierced interlaced splat between foliate-carved and fluted stiles, with leaf-carved serpentine arms with scrolled terminals on arched supports, above a padded seat covered in later blue-ground needlework depicting a cathedral and two martlets below St. James's shell, the needlework dated '1942', on cabriole legs carved with cartouches, on shell-carved feet, restorations and black-painting to seat rails

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Sale room notice

The needlework seat depicts the West front of Guildford Cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe (1883-1974) and consecrated in 1961. His wife was a Director of Heal's and an accomplished needlewoman. She designed the cathedral's interior furnishings, including needlework kneelers, designed for each chair.

Lot Essay

The serpentined and ribboned-back parlour chair is designed in the George II 'picturesque' manner popularised by the engravings of W. de la Cour's First Book of Ornaments, 1741 and M. Darly's Second Book of Chairs, 1751. The splat's conjoined circles tie the back's arched, antique fluted and serpentined-truss upright, while the fluted and truss-scrolled legs terminate in shell-wrapped feet. Two chairs, with the same patterned back (with the addition of an arched centre cresting) and related legs terminating in shell-wrapped feet were advertised by the Harrogate dealer, W. Waddingham in Apollo, August 1964. A chair with a related back was in the collection of the dealer, D. L. Isaacs in the early 20th century (P. Macquoid, History of English Furniture: The Age of Mahogany, London, 1919, fig. 113).

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