Blaise Castle was a villa built in 1766 in the grounds of Henbury Mansion, near Bristol, which had been purchased in 1762 by Thomas Farr, Lord Mayor of Bristol (d.1791). Farr transformed Henbury in an extremely picturesque style, noted in the 1795 Red Book of the estate by Humphrey Repton, who particularly admired Blaise Castle, which was set into the hillside in the manner of a belvedere. Henbury was the source of the magnificent pair of mahogany serpentine commodes that were sold from the collection of the late Samuel Messer, Esq., in these Rooms, 5 December 1991, lot 117.
The shield-shaped back relates to the 'Cabriole Chair' patterns engraved in 1787 and published by A.Hepplewhite and Co. in their Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1789, pl.10.