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Lot Essay
A suite comprising eight armchairs and a pair of sofas was advertised by the London dealer Phillips of Hitchen in 1948. Another single was advertised by Hotspur in July 1947. While the present pair was purchased in the London trade in 1978, other chairs of this model have since some up for auction including:
-A pair: The Late Mrs. Barbara Campbell Golding; Christie's, London, 27 November 2003, lot 100
-A single: Sotheby's, London, 9 February 1996, lot 63
-A single: Sotheby's, New York, 7 June 1986 lot 153
-A single: Christie's, London, 18 November 1982, lot 48
Another chair is illustrated from the stock/collection of C. J. Charles, Esq. (or Charles Joel Duveen), London in the early 20th century.
A set of chairs of nearly identical form was supplied in 1757 for the 1st Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall, Norfolk by the leading cabinet-maker, upholsterer and 'Tapestry maker to His Majesty' Paul Saunders (d. 1771) as follows:
'Mr. Saunders for 10 Elbow chairs with carved and gilt frames and covd. Cut blue Turkey leather £74. 0. 5.' And with 'two large sophas' en suite (Holkham Accounts for the week ending 11 June 1757) (one chair illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1968, fig. 378)
Eight of these chairs and the settees remain in the Tribune and Sculpture Gallery for which they were made. Another set of twelve chairs, with similarly fluted legs, was supplied at the same time (op. cit., fig. 379). Saunders and his partner George Smith Bradshaw were likely introduced to Lord Leicester through another cabinet-maker William Bradshaw, who was recorded working at Holkham in the 1740s. They were conceivably influenced by the latter's work, which bears close comparison (see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's set of four tapestry-covered chairs from Chesterfield House) and records show that they succeeded at his premises at 59 Greek Street by 1755. Saunders and George Smith Bradshaw dissolved their partnership in 1756, the year before the suite was invoiced.
-A pair: The Late Mrs. Barbara Campbell Golding; Christie's, London, 27 November 2003, lot 100
-A single: Sotheby's, London, 9 February 1996, lot 63
-A single: Sotheby's, New York, 7 June 1986 lot 153
-A single: Christie's, London, 18 November 1982, lot 48
Another chair is illustrated from the stock/collection of C. J. Charles, Esq. (or Charles Joel Duveen), London in the early 20th century.
A set of chairs of nearly identical form was supplied in 1757 for the 1st Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall, Norfolk by the leading cabinet-maker, upholsterer and 'Tapestry maker to His Majesty' Paul Saunders (d. 1771) as follows:
'Mr. Saunders for 10 Elbow chairs with carved and gilt frames and covd. Cut blue Turkey leather £74. 0. 5.' And with 'two large sophas' en suite (Holkham Accounts for the week ending 11 June 1757) (one chair illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1968, fig. 378)
Eight of these chairs and the settees remain in the Tribune and Sculpture Gallery for which they were made. Another set of twelve chairs, with similarly fluted legs, was supplied at the same time (op. cit., fig. 379). Saunders and his partner George Smith Bradshaw were likely introduced to Lord Leicester through another cabinet-maker William Bradshaw, who was recorded working at Holkham in the 1740s. They were conceivably influenced by the latter's work, which bears close comparison (see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's set of four tapestry-covered chairs from Chesterfield House) and records show that they succeeded at his premises at 59 Greek Street by 1755. Saunders and George Smith Bradshaw dissolved their partnership in 1756, the year before the suite was invoiced.