MID-18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF IRISH GEORGE II SOLID MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS
MID-18TH CENTURY
Each with a scrolled curved toprail hung with tassles, above a pierced vertical splat centred by flowerheads, with outscrolled arms terminating in eagles' heads, above a padded replaced seat covered in black horsehair, on foliate-carved cabriole legs headed by shells, on claw-and-ball feet, chair A with original front legs, arm supports and side seat-rails, chair B with replaced toprail, minor variations in width
38¼ in. (97 cm.) high; 31 in. (78.5 cm.) wide; 23½ in. (60 cm.) deep (2)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This pair of chairs have scrolled eagle head terminals to the arms characteristic of Irish chairs of the mid-eighteenth century (see The Knight of Glin & J. Peill, Irish Furniture, New Haven & London, 2007, p. 107, fig. 136). The pierced splats relate to those on a triple-chairback settee in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, illustrated, ibid., p. 209, cat. no. 18. The tassells in the splat are another feature associated with Irish chairs, and are seen on the set of twenty-four mahogany dining-chairs of c. 1770 supplied to Thomas and Louisa Connolly for Castletown, Co. Kildare (ibid., p. 122, fig. 166).
A pair of dining-chairs of similar design were sold from the collection of Dr. Frank Crozer Knowles, Christie's, New York, 22 October 1988, lot 236.

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