THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

The stool, raised on antique-fluted, herm-tapered and plinth-supported pilasters, reflects the George III 'Roman' fashion introduced by the Rome-trained court architects Sir William Chambers and Robert Adam; and as featured in a 1759 seat-pattern illustrated in Thomas Chippendale's, Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd ed. 1762 (pl. 17). Related neo-classical stools, on 'Director' pattern Doric guttaed plinths, were illustrated in situ in an 1816 engraving of Windsor's 'King's Closet' (H. Roberts, 'A Neoclassical Episode at Windsor', Furniture History, 1997, pp. 17-18, fig. 1). A pair of the latter, bearing the 1866 Buckingham Palace inventory brand, was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 27 June 1985, lot 119.

The present stool bears the printed Windsor Castle label listing its location as Room 513 (St. George's Hall), likely to date from 1866.