The archaeological design of the 'klismos' chair derives from Greek and Roman prototypes. The idea that ancient forms of furniture might suitably be recreated was popular with connoisseur collectors in both England and France in the late 18th and early 19th Century. In his influential Receuil de Décorations Intérieures, 1801, pl.V, Charles Percier illustrated Peinture sitting on this type of chair. They furnished one of the vase rooms in Thomas Hope's Duchess Street mansion and appear in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl.4
Among the most severely classical interpretations of the design are a pair of chairs of which the curved backs are supported on a solid scrolled splat. These were originally at Soho House, Birmingham, the home of the 18th Century entrepreneur Matthew Boulton. This pair were subsequently at Tew Park, Oxfordshire, and were sold in Christie's house sale, 27-29 May 1987, lot 148.
A pair of chairs that are possibly from the same suite as the present lot were sold anonymously, Phillips London, 24 November 1992, lot 197.