Lot Essay
The pair to this stool is illustrated in R. W. Symonds's Masterpieces of English Furniture and Clocks, London, 1940, fig. 10 and sold, the Property of a Lady, Sotheby's, London, 6 July 1956, lot 130 (purchased by Partridge).
The unusual and distinctive lotus leaf ornament on the stretchers is derived from contemporary 'Indian' or Japanese and Chinese lacquer cabinets-on-stands whose stands often display a lotus-leaf ornament. Armchairs with this feature include: one from the estate of David Berg, sold Christie's, New York, 21 October 1999, lot 20; another illustrated in L. Synge, Mallett Millennium, London, 1999, p. 58, fig. 56; and a pair with strapwork marquetry and straight stretchers sold from a New England collection, Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 25 and possibly attributable to the chair-maker Henry Williams (fl. 1717-58) (see L. Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, 2008, vol. I, pp. 224, fig. 145).
The unusual and distinctive lotus leaf ornament on the stretchers is derived from contemporary 'Indian' or Japanese and Chinese lacquer cabinets-on-stands whose stands often display a lotus-leaf ornament. Armchairs with this feature include: one from the estate of David Berg, sold Christie's, New York, 21 October 1999, lot 20; another illustrated in L. Synge, Mallett Millennium, London, 1999, p. 58, fig. 56; and a pair with strapwork marquetry and straight stretchers sold from a New England collection, Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 25 and possibly attributable to the chair-maker Henry Williams (fl. 1717-58) (see L. Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, 2008, vol. I, pp. 224, fig. 145).