THREE LATE 18TH CENTURY, ONE OF LATER DATE

Details

A SET OF FOUR GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIRS
THREE LATE 18TH CENTURY, ONE OF LATER DATE
Each with arched rectangular tapering fluted back and bowfront fluted seat with squab cushion covered in yellow silk, with outcurved part-padded arms, on fluted baluster legs, regilt
38 in. (96.5 cm.) high; 25 in. (63.5 cm.) wide; 20½ in. (52 cm.) depth of seat (4)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This antique-fluted chair, with Grecian palm-flowered, triumphal arched 'tablet' back, combines the elegance of the 1760s French 'cabriolet' chair with the style promoted by Rome-trained architects such as James 'Athenian' Stuart and Robert 'Bob the Roman' Adam. In particular it reflects the style of the Berkeley Square cabinet-maker John Linnell (d. 1796) and relates to the suite of chairs he supplied in the 1770s to the 5th Duke of Argyll, for Inverary Castle, Scotland (H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, figs. 283 and 90). The present chairs may have formed part of a suite supplied by Linnell for Shelburne (now Lansdowne) House, built by Adam in the 1760s for the 2nd Earl of Shelburne, later 1st Marquis of Lansdowne. The suite included a French-fashioned 'confidante' sofa that passed by descent until sold by the Marquis of Lansdowne, Christie's, London, 19 November 1981, lot 26.

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