Lot Essay
The elegant Grecian-scrolled and squab-cushioned 'klismos' parlour chair is enriched with golden Egyptian reliefs and conceived in the French/antique fashion promoted around 1800 by the Mayfair mansion/museum established by the connoisseur Thomas Hope (see T. Hope, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807).
Related sphere-capped chairs are displayed at Wilton, Salisbury; while others, with ivory enrichments, have been associated with the court firms of Morel and Hughes and that of Marsh and Tatham (see a pair of armchairs sold Christie's London, 27 November 2003, lot 7). The initials GP, like that of the journeyman B. Harmer recorded on chairs of similar quality, may also indicate the chair was supplied by one of the leading court firms (see C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, fig. 478).
Related sphere-capped chairs are displayed at Wilton, Salisbury; while others, with ivory enrichments, have been associated with the court firms of Morel and Hughes and that of Marsh and Tatham (see a pair of armchairs sold Christie's London, 27 November 2003, lot 7). The initials GP, like that of the journeyman B. Harmer recorded on chairs of similar quality, may also indicate the chair was supplied by one of the leading court firms (see C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, fig. 478).