Lot Essay
These chairs are of a typically Irish form dating from the second quarter of the 18th Century. They display a characteristic flat Venus shell, held between serpentine uprights and a vase-shaped splat displaying the Hogarthian 'line of beauty'. Their legs have elongated scrolls and are joined by flat stretchers, pegged in the Irish manner, above hocks and square lion-paw feet.
They are closely related to a set of ten dining-chairs from Headfort House, Co. Meath, Ireland, which was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 13 November 1997, lot 120.
Abbeville, Co. Dublin was built for the Rt. Hon. John Beresford, Taster of the Wines in the Port of Dublin, one of the most powerful men in Ireland at the end of the 18th Century. It has changed hands several times. A chair from the same collection as this pair of chairs was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 12 November 1998, lot 143.
They are closely related to a set of ten dining-chairs from Headfort House, Co. Meath, Ireland, which was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 13 November 1997, lot 120.
Abbeville, Co. Dublin was built for the Rt. Hon. John Beresford, Taster of the Wines in the Port of Dublin, one of the most powerful men in Ireland at the end of the 18th Century. It has changed hands several times. A chair from the same collection as this pair of chairs was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 12 November 1998, lot 143.