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Lot Essay
This George III 'Roman' form of chair, with herm-tapered legs and medallion backs railed with Ionic-capped and patera-enriched pillars, made its appearance in the later 1770s. The pattern of these chairs, appropriately decorated for a library with 'Venus' pearls and Palmyreen 'Apollo' sunflowers evoking lyric poetry, directly corresponds to that of a pair exhibited at the International Art Treasures Exhibition, Bath, England, 1973 (no.74); and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1974-75, sold anonymously, Sotheby's, New York, 28 June 1996 lot 281. A single armchair of corresponding design was sold anonymously, Phillips, London, 24 November 1992, lot 74.
This pair of armchairs also have similarities in common with a design for armchairs displaying a different arrangement of paterae, illustrated in R. Edwards The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, Vol. I, p. 229, fig. 233 and C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, p. 94, fig. 83.
This pair of armchairs also have similarities in common with a design for armchairs displaying a different arrangement of paterae, illustrated in R. Edwards The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, Vol. I, p. 229, fig. 233 and C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, p. 94, fig. 83.