Lot Essay
The railed chair-back with trellis-lozenged fret between acanthus-enriched pilasters relates to a pattern for 'Ladies Dressing Chairs' issued in Robert Manwaring's The Cabinet-Maker's Guide, London, 1766 (pl. 30). Their entwined ribbon-scrolls issuing from pagoda-scrolled acanthus features on a related chair from the collection of Lord Doverdale (d.1949) illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. I, p. 284, fig. 184. The chair was one from a set of four sold by Mrs. Derek Fitzgerald, removed from Heathfield Park, Sussex, Sotheby's London, 5 July 1963, lot 135, and again anonymously, Sotheby's London, 4 June 1976, lot 70. A simplified version of the backs, features on a pair of chairs sold from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Warner, Christie's New York, 12 October 1990, lot 166.
The set of six chairs in this lot, was formerly at Hazelbury Manor, Wiltshire and may have been introduced to the house following its purchase and restoration by Mr. Kidston in 1919. The house is illustrated in H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Periods I & II, Mediaeval & Early Tudor 1066-1558, vol. II, London, 1937, pp. 91-104.
The set of six chairs in this lot, was formerly at Hazelbury Manor, Wiltshire and may have been introduced to the house following its purchase and restoration by Mr. Kidston in 1919. The house is illustrated in H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Periods I & II, Mediaeval & Early Tudor 1066-1558, vol. II, London, 1937, pp. 91-104.