NINE GEORGE IV BY HENRY STIDOLPH, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, AND ONE OPEN ARMCHAIR OF A LATER DATE

Details

A SET OF TEN GOTHIC OAK DINING-CHAIRS
NINE GEORGE IV BY HENRY STIDOLPH, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, AND ONE OPEN ARMCHAIR OF A LATER DATE
Including two open armchairs, each with pierced pointed arched rectangular back with four lancet centre, the armchairs with comformingly filled arms, above a padded seat covered in blue and cream-patterned material, above a panelled seat-rail, on tapering panelled octagonal legs and bun feet, with batten carrying-holes, one with printed paper label 'STIDOLPH/CABINET MANUFACTURER & UPHOLSTERER/...ARTFORD', one chair with restored back legs, restorations to backs (10)

Provenance

Supplied to Alderman James Harmer, for Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent. By descent to the Umfreville family (who sold the house in 1906).
Miss P.A. Umfreville, Yeaton Hall (+); C.E. Williams & Co. (auctioneers), Oswestry, house sale, 15-16 October 1970 (to Christopher Gibbs Ltd).
Mrs. Deborah James (née Wood); Christie's London, 19 April 1990, lot 43.
Anonymous sale; Christies, London, 12 February 1998, lot 173.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Sale room notice

The estimate for this set of chairs has been raised to £20,000-30,000.

Lot Essay

The dining-chairs, designed in the Gothic manner promoted by George Smith's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1826, were commissioned by Alderman James Harmer (b. 1777) following his purchase of Ingress Abbey, Kent in 1820 and its aggrandisement in the 'Gothic Elizabethan' manner under the direction of the architect Charles Moreing. The chairs were executed by Henry Stidolph who is recorded at Dartford, Kent between 1824 and 1839 (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 856).

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