Lot Essay
The cane-backed parlour chairs are conceived in the French/antique fashion introduced in the early 19th century by George Bullock (d.1818) at his Grecian Rooms in Liverpool, and later at Tenterden Street, London, where it was lauded for its tasteful simplicity (see R. Ackermanns, Repository of Arts, 1816). Palms flower the klismos tablets of their crestings, while bas-relief medallions of Ceres paterae grace their French cabriolet backs. Such paterae were a favoured motif of Bullock, who also adopted the palm-flowered tablet for his 1806 Grecian Rooms sale advertisement (see C. Wainwright et al, George Bullock, London, 1988, p.43). The architect Richard Bridgens, who provided designs for the Bullock Workshops, is credited with the design of the firm's oak parlour chairs of related character executed in 1818 for Abbotsford, Scotland (Wainwright, ibid, no. 17). G. Bryson's brand has also been recorded on other related parlour chairs with Grecian-scrolled backs, sold Christie's King Street, 6 July 2000, lot 99.