Lot Essay
The original stools, from which the present examples are modelled, supplied to the Archbishops of Canterbury for Lambeth Palace were sold Christie's, London, 14 November 1996, lot 60. The 'Grecian Couch' form of these stools evolved from patterns illustrated in Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. XIX and XXV. One of the above seats was described as 'an old oak settle on unique lines when it featured as the 'Week's antique', in an art magazine published circa 1900. The cutting, from an unidentified magazine is preserved at Lambeth Palace Library (MS 1726, f 46r).