This Royal settee with voluted-wing 'griffin' monopodiae is designed in the early 19th century 'antique' manner promoted by the connoisseur Thomas Hope (d. 1831), whose guide to his Duchess Street mansion Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, featured a related chair (plate 20). While the monopodiae trace their ancestry to the type of antique 'chimera' such as that featured on a marble fragment brought from Rome by the architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (d. 1842) and illustrated in his Etchings, representing fragments of Antique Grecian and Roman Architectural Ornament, 1806; the primary source for this settee is a desk-chair and a Grecian (seat) illustrated in C. Percier and P. F. L. Fontaine, Receuil de Decorations Interieures, 1801, pls. vi and xxv. The former also provided inspiration for the council chair, commissioned by George, Prince Regent, later George IV, and supplied in 1812 by the Mount Street cabinet-maker and upholsterer Thomas Tatham (d. 1818), borther of the architect. In CHarles Wild's 1816 watercolour of the Drawing Room at Carlton House, this council chair, reupholstered in red velvet, is illustrated facing the Prince's throne (see: H. Roberts, 'Royal Thrones', Furniture History, 1989, fig. 19). His throne, partly concealed behind a table, appears to share the settee's Grecian-scrolled cresting, rectangular upholstered back and sphere-capped arms.

When the settee was last sold at Christie's in New York, it retained its original red (or crimson) velvet upholstery, 'French stuffed' in the early 19th century manner and gilt braid borders, corresponding to the throne. Its apron was originally finished with a rich fringe, corresponding to the throne.

This settee with its flowered chimerical supports, flowered-tablet rails and flowered acanthus-scrolled and palmette-enriched cresting surmounted by the Royal crown, is likely to have been supplied to correspond with the throne. It is possible that it was commissioned by George IV for the Throne Room at St. James's Palace, while this was refurbished around 1827 following the demolition of Carlton House and the reconstruction of Buckingham Palace. This was carried out by Messrs. Edward Bailey and Saunders, successors to the firm of Messrs. Tatham, Bailey and Saunders (see: H. Roberts, op.cit., p. 70)