Lot Essay
A manuscript design for this model of stool is in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book, 1827, p. 3568, as A Mahogany Grecian Dressing Stool with a price of £1 15s. Stools of an almost identical form were supplied to Tatton Park, Cheshire, in 1812 (N. Goodison and J. Hardy, 'Gillows at Tatton Park', Furniture History, 1970, pl. 22). Further stools of this model were supplied to William, 2nd Baron Bolton (1782-1850) for Hackwood Park, Hamsphire, in mid-1813 and one of these was sold in Christie's house sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 365.
The 'J Ha..' is possibly John Harrison who is named in the Gillow records between 1791 and 1824, including work on a fishing stool (City of Westminster Archive Centre, Gillow vol. 344/96, p. 889 and C. Gilbert and G. Beard, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 404). Gillow craftsmen occasionally signed their work in pencil on the underside.
The 'J Ha..' is possibly John Harrison who is named in the Gillow records between 1791 and 1824, including work on a fishing stool (City of Westminster Archive Centre, Gillow vol. 344/96, p. 889 and C. Gilbert and G. Beard, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 404). Gillow craftsmen occasionally signed their work in pencil on the underside.