Lot Essay
Although no design for the present lot has been found, the pattern is undoubtedly inspired by drawings by Thomas Chippendale Junior (d.1822) such as the design for an ornament on a plinth attributed to Chippendale (1797), in the collection of Harewood House, Yorkshire. Chippendale favoured sphinx or ram’s masks whereas the present lot features lion masks, though the acanthus-wrapped and lion-footed supports and leaf edge-moulding bear close comparison to the design (see J.Goodison, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale Junior, London, 2017, p. 426, fig. 295).