ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1820-40

These chairs with their distinctive stylised leafy fronds to the shaped back and splat are attributed to the renowned cabinet-makers Gillows of Lancaster & London. The design is a close variant to the 'Kennedy's pattern' recorded in the Estimate Sketch Book 1839, ordered by Sir George Musgrave. The stamped initials 'HH' and 'MB' relate to individual journeymen who worked on this furniture. The former initial stamp is one of the most common, recorded on chairs made during the first half of the 19th century. The'HH' stamp appears on a long set of twenty-four chairs in the 'Edwards pattern' sold at the Mere Hall, Cheshire, Christie's 1994, lot 106. It was customary, particularly in the 19th century, for journeymen to use a metal stamp to distinguish their work in order to facilitate payment from the firm.
See Susan Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, 2008, Volume I p. 221-223, pl. 210 and Volume II, p.244.