The parlour chairs are designed in the George III antique manner of the 1760's with pedimented crest-rails, fluted set-rails and herm feet. However the quatrefoil-enriched rails and the arcaded and ribbon-tied backs reflect the mid-18th Century Gothic style. The latter is inspired by a pattern in Thomas Chippendale's Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd ed. 1762, pl. XVII. The cabinet-maker and upholsterer Richard Gillow of Lancaster when supplying sketches for bookcases, in April 1765, informed one of his clients, If any of Chippendale's designs be more agreeable I have his book and can execute 'em.... if you'll be so obliging to Point out the Number' (see C. Gilbert The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, p. 79). The pattern for these chairs together with a detail of the arms features in Gillow's Estimate Sketch Books for (Gillow MSS preserved at the Westminster Public Library)