CIRCA 1750

The distinctive chairs' boldly carved channelled feet can be compared to the suite supplied to John, 2nd Earl Poulett (d.1764) for Hinton House, Somerset. A pair of library chairs from the suite was sold in these Rooms, 16 October 1998, lot 333. While the Poulett papers are incomplete, several leading London cabinet-makers, probably working under the supervision of the architect Matthew Brettingham, can be associated with the commission on the basis of documented designs or similarities to known works, and these include Matthias Lock, Giles Grendey and Thomas Chippendale. Current research has associated the Hinton House suite with Messrs. William Vile (d.1767) and John Cobb (d.1778), later Royal cabinet-makers to George III, who formed a powerful syndicate with William Hallett (d.1781) in St. Martin's Lane from 1753. Vile and Cobb supplied a set of closely related side chairs to Anthony Chute for The Vyne, Hampshire in that same year, one of which is illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 27. In addition, both Vile and Hallett were born in Somerset, within five miles of Hinton St. George, and maintained contact with their relatives there. As such, they would have been privy to the 2nd Earl's refurbishments, particularly as their neighbor Matthias Lock was supplying furniture for the house.

A suite which features the same boldly scrolled front and back feet appears in a photograph of the Saloon at Swakeleys, Middlesex. (C. Latham,In English Homes, London, 1909, p. 96). A comparable suite was sold by R. Heathcote Amory, Christie's, London, 22 February 1962, lot 97 (and again anonymously on 21 November 1985, lot 161), while a further related library chair, covered in 18th century needlework and almost certainly by these makers was sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 9-10 January 1996, lot 381.