Lot Essay
The watery-gadrooned serpentine frame in the French manner would originally have been mirrored in the close-nailed upholstery and relates in character to the 'cabriole' chair in Thomas Malton's Complete Treatise on Perspective, 1775, pl. XXXIII. This chair belongs to a group traditionally associated with John Cobb (d. 1788) of St. Martin's Lane, 'upholsterer' to King George III, and from 1761 in partnership with William Vile (d. 1767). In the 1770s Cobb supplied a suite of six chairs and a matching sofa, very similar to the present lot, to Philip Yorke for Erdigg, near Wrexham, North Wales, which remains in situ to the present day.
A closely related set of four chairs was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 23 June 1983, lot 162, and a similar beechwood pair was offered anonymously in these Rooms, 16 November 1995, lot 41.
A closely related set of four chairs was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 23 June 1983, lot 162, and a similar beechwood pair was offered anonymously in these Rooms, 16 November 1995, lot 41.