PROBABLY 19TH CENTURY

This elegant chair frame compares closely to a single iconic example from the Percival Griffiths collection which is showcased in several publications, including R. W. Symonds's English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929, p. 199, figs. 160-162. It was most recently sold by David McAlpine at Fawley House, Oxfordshire (Sotheby's House Sale, 14-15 October 2003, lot 72, £386,400). The present chair is only the second known example of this model, and was clearly inspired by the former although with noted differences in scale, details of carving and construction. The model exhibits a fluidity of form and detail characteristic of fashionable 'French' pattern chairs of the mid-eighteenth century and admired equally when revived throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.