Lot Essay
This armchair relates to larger-scale armchairs supplied by the cabinet-maker George Bullock (d. 1818) for the Library at Longwood, St. Helena, furnished by the British Government for Napoleon's use whilst in exile there. Others were included in designs for the drawing-room at New Longwood House, dated November 1815 (C. Wainwright et al, George Bullock: Cabinet-maker, London, 1988, pp. 81-84, nos. 20 & 21, fig. 34). The distinctive brass inlay on the toprail was used by Bullock in numerous other projects, including the magnificent pair of side cabinets supplied to John, 1st Marquess of Abercorn in 1817 (ibid., no. 23, pp. 85-87). The faceted leg is also seen on the set of twelve oak dining-chairs made for Abbotsford and designed by Atkinson and Bridgens in Bullock's workshop in 1818, immediately following Bullock's death (ibid., p. 79).