LAST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

The unusual use of solid padouk and pegged construction on this armchair indicate that it was probably made in Canton for export to the West. Such pieces are extremely rare, and during the second and third quarter of the 18th Century seem to have been made only on special order, either for use by the purchaser while posted with the British East India Company in Canton, or another Company outpost. Interestingly, examples from the last decades of the 18th Century for the English and American markets were made directly after published designs, such as those by Adam and Hepplewhite (C. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Suffolk, 1991, p.234). This armchair is clearly derived from English chair patterns such as those published by Thomas Chippendale in The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd edn., London, 1762, pl. XXVI-XXVIII, where nine such 'Chinese Chair' designs were illustrated, including a very similar chairback with double X-form central splat surmounted by a pagoda-form rail (pl. no. XXVIII).