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Lot Essay
The general form of the chairs, with their Grecian 'tablet' rails and scrolled legs, relate to a pattern in Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807 (pl. 26, no. 2). While their Roman drapery backs also relate to one of his sofa designs (ibid., pl. 26, no. 8). Similar legs feature on chairs, with 'tablet' rails, supplied in 1810 for Papworth Hall, Cambridge by the Bond Street cabinet-maker George Oakley (d. 1841) (see A. E. Reveirs-Hopkis, 'Sheraton Period Furniture', Old Furniture, 1928, vol. 3, p. 225, fig. 8). Similarly draped tablets appear on a suite of chairs from Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, sold by The Earl of Hardwicke, Christie's, London, 6 July 1967, lot 66).
The eight-point star, in the centre of the splat of these chairs, is similar in design to the 'Garter Star' of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A pattern for a chair featuring a splat with this eight-point star was illustrated in R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, vol. XIV, October 1815, pl. 21. Since the early 20th century the Garter star has been worn on the left breast of the dark blue 'mantle' by the Sovereign. Knights & Lady Companions of the Order wear the shield of St. George encircled by the Garter.
The eight-point star, in the centre of the splat of these chairs, is similar in design to the 'Garter Star' of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A pattern for a chair featuring a splat with this eight-point star was illustrated in R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, vol. XIV, October 1815, pl. 21. Since the early 20th century the Garter star has been worn on the left breast of the dark blue 'mantle' by the Sovereign. Knights & Lady Companions of the Order wear the shield of St. George encircled by the Garter.