.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
PERCIVAL GRIFFITHS
The collection formed by Percival D. Griffiths, F.S.A (d. 1938), under the wise counsel of the furniture historian R. W. Symonds, is considered to be the greatest collection of English Furniture formed in the last century. Indeed, it was Griffiths' collection that provided the content for Symonds' seminal work English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929. The interiors at Sandridgebury are happily recalled in 'Sandridgebury: The Country Residence of Percival D. Griffiths', published by Symonds in Antiques, March 1931, pp. 193-196 where one of the chairs appears in a view of the Morning Room. Griffith's collection has come to be recognised as a benchmark of excellence, in the arena of collecting early to mid-18th century walnut and mahogany furniture and is discussed by E. Lennox-Boyd, 'Introduction: Collecting in the Symonds Tradition', Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, London, 1998, pp. 12-31.
A closely related armchair from the impressive collection of the late Herbert Rothbarth was sold Christie's, London, 26 May 1960, lot 214.
The collection formed by Percival D. Griffiths, F.S.A (d. 1938), under the wise counsel of the furniture historian R. W. Symonds, is considered to be the greatest collection of English Furniture formed in the last century. Indeed, it was Griffiths' collection that provided the content for Symonds' seminal work English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929. The interiors at Sandridgebury are happily recalled in 'Sandridgebury: The Country Residence of Percival D. Griffiths', published by Symonds in Antiques, March 1931, pp. 193-196 where one of the chairs appears in a view of the Morning Room. Griffith's collection has come to be recognised as a benchmark of excellence, in the arena of collecting early to mid-18th century walnut and mahogany furniture and is discussed by E. Lennox-Boyd, 'Introduction: Collecting in the Symonds Tradition', Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, London, 1998, pp. 12-31.
A closely related armchair from the impressive collection of the late Herbert Rothbarth was sold Christie's, London, 26 May 1960, lot 214.