Lot Essay
This armchair is part of a suite of eight armchairs, a pair of bergeres and a sofa supplied by Chippendale, Haig & Co. to David Garrick for the Blue Bedroom at his Villa in Hampton in 1768.
David Garrick (d. 1779), the acclaimed actor and manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, purchased a fully furnished villa on the banks of the Thames in Hampton, on the outskirts of London in 1754. He employed Robert Adam to assist him in the refurbushing of the house, and Thomas Chippendale provided a large quantity of painted furniture which was considered the most suitable for a country retreat. Chippendale's involvement with these interiors spans 1768-1778. Extensive correspondence, inventories, bills and sale catalogues exist which relate to Chippendale's commissions for Garrick, nearly all of which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum Library.
The suite is included in an inventory taken at Hampton when Garrick died, dated 1 March 1779 where they are listed in the 'no. 6 Bed Room next the Thames.' His widow then left their London house at the Adelphi (where Chippendale was also employed) and retired to Hampton. The house was sold to her solicitor, Thomas Carr, upon her own death in 1823. The suite is listed in the sale catalogue of that year in 'Room no. 11, items 8,10 and 11, where they are listed as 'eight English cabriole elbow chairs,' a 'cabriole sofa' and 'two bergieres (sic.).' Carr purchased back many of the furnishings in this sale. However, when the house and its contents were next sold at auction in 1864, the chairs do not appear in the catalogue. Six chairs from the suite were acquired by John Fowler who was employed by Lord Rothermere to decorate his home, Daylesford, in Oxfordshire. The Rothermere suite was sold in these Rooms on behalf of the Estate of Mary, Viscountess Rothermere, 16 April 1994, lots 142-144.
David Garrick (d. 1779), the acclaimed actor and manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, purchased a fully furnished villa on the banks of the Thames in Hampton, on the outskirts of London in 1754. He employed Robert Adam to assist him in the refurbushing of the house, and Thomas Chippendale provided a large quantity of painted furniture which was considered the most suitable for a country retreat. Chippendale's involvement with these interiors spans 1768-1778. Extensive correspondence, inventories, bills and sale catalogues exist which relate to Chippendale's commissions for Garrick, nearly all of which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum Library.
The suite is included in an inventory taken at Hampton when Garrick died, dated 1 March 1779 where they are listed in the 'no. 6 Bed Room next the Thames.' His widow then left their London house at the Adelphi (where Chippendale was also employed) and retired to Hampton. The house was sold to her solicitor, Thomas Carr, upon her own death in 1823. The suite is listed in the sale catalogue of that year in 'Room no. 11, items 8,10 and 11, where they are listed as 'eight English cabriole elbow chairs,' a 'cabriole sofa' and 'two bergieres (sic.).' Carr purchased back many of the furnishings in this sale. However, when the house and its contents were next sold at auction in 1864, the chairs do not appear in the catalogue. Six chairs from the suite were acquired by John Fowler who was employed by Lord Rothermere to decorate his home, Daylesford, in Oxfordshire. The Rothermere suite was sold in these Rooms on behalf of the Estate of Mary, Viscountess Rothermere, 16 April 1994, lots 142-144.