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Lot Essay
Patterns for rectilinear chair-backs with 'French' cut-corners and patera-centred rails like the struts of an antique-tripod were first published in the A. Hepplewhite & Co's Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788, 2nd ed. A related pattern for an armchair is in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book, dated 1796, for Mrs Parkin, Penrith, Cumberland, No. 34.636. A set of painted armchairs of related form was supplied for Osterley House, Middlesex in the 1780s (M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, 1972, no. Q15). However, the pattern may have been invented by Thomas Chippendale Junior (d. 1822) for chairs supplied to Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bt. for Normanton Hall, circa 1775-80 (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, vol. I, fig. 171).
A pair of side chairs of almost identical design, but with different legs and stamped B. Harmer, was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 19 April 2001, lot 253. A set of eight side chairs of this model, but plain-carved, was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 8 July 1993, lot 30.
A pair of side chairs of almost identical design, but with different legs and stamped B. Harmer, was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 19 April 2001, lot 253. A set of eight side chairs of this model, but plain-carved, was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 8 July 1993, lot 30.