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Lot Essay
The design for the set of George III side chairs almost certainly derives from Chippendale’s 'Gothick Chairs’, published in the Director, and described in 1755, as,
'six new designs of Gothic Chairs; their feet are almost all different, and may be of use to those that are unacquainted with this sort of work. Most of the ornaments may be left out if required. The sizes… may be lessened or enlarged, according to the fancy of the skillful artist’ (plates XXI-XXII).
The fashion for such chairs had some longevity; two ‘Gothick’ designs featured in the 3rd edition of the Director as, 'fit for Eating-Parlours’ (1762, plate XXV).
Chippendale combined open and blind frets’ as displayed on this set of chairs, which also feature on a pair of mahogany frame settees and four armchairs at Harewood House, Yorkshire (C. Gilbert, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale, vol. I, London, 1978, p. 152). Chippendale’s contemporaries were quick to assimilate similar patterns into their repertoire, notably a grand suite of drawing-room chairs attributed to William Vile (d. 1767), supplied circa 1760 to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (d. 1771) for St. Giles's House, Dorset; four pairs of chairs from this set sold Christie's, London, 26 June 1980, lots 91-94. In 1765, Robert Manwaring also published designs for side and arm chairs with blind fret decorated supports including one with a similar central foliate cartouche on the apron, see plate 12 (The Cabinet and Chair-maker’s Real Friend and Companion or, The Whole System of Chair-making Made plain and easy, London).
In 1921, the furniture historian, Herbert Cescinsky described the present chairs, at which time Sir Ernest Cunard, the shipping magnate and founder of Cunard Line, had acquired two, and Lord Ward four (op. cit., p. 9). However, by July 1931, an insurance valuation for Dudley House shows that the set numbered six suggesting that Lord Ward probably bought the other two from Cunard, The chairs were described thus:
'Set of 6 Chippendale mahogany single Chairs with backs and seats covered in petit point needlework, cream ground with figures in red and trees and landscape in natural colours, with fretted carved frames straight legs fretted and carved, backs and seats have old brass lozenge shape nails all round, and loose covers’ (Inventory and Valuation..., op. cit., p. 44).
The set was almost certainly part of a larger suite of seat-furniture when first commissioned that would have included at least two sofas and a pair of armchairs but to date the whereabouts of the remainder of the suite is unknown.
DUDLEY HOUSE
Dudley House was built in an area of Mayfair known as Upperfielde, part of the Grosvenor Estate that formed the dowry of Mary Davies. Designed by William Atkinson, construction of the house began in 1824 for Viscount Dudley. After his death in 1833 without issue, the house passed through various hands for the next sixty years; one of the most notable being Ismail Pasha ‘The Magnificent’, Khedive of Egypt, who used Dudley House as his residence on a State Visit to England in 1867. Between 1895 and 1912 the house was owned by Sir Joseph Robinson, a South African mining magnate and Randlord (known as ‘the Buccaneer’) after which it was acquired by The Hon. Sir John and Mrs. Ward. Dudley House was badly damaged by a bomb in the Blitz in 1940 and ownership passed to the Grosvenor Estate before becoming the corporate headquarters of Hammerson Properties. The house is one of the few remaining great houses in London and is now in private hands again; it has recently undergone a major restoration.
'six new designs of Gothic Chairs; their feet are almost all different, and may be of use to those that are unacquainted with this sort of work. Most of the ornaments may be left out if required. The sizes… may be lessened or enlarged, according to the fancy of the skillful artist’ (plates XXI-XXII).
The fashion for such chairs had some longevity; two ‘Gothick’ designs featured in the 3rd edition of the Director as, 'fit for Eating-Parlours’ (1762, plate XXV).
Chippendale combined open and blind frets’ as displayed on this set of chairs, which also feature on a pair of mahogany frame settees and four armchairs at Harewood House, Yorkshire (C. Gilbert, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale, vol. I, London, 1978, p. 152). Chippendale’s contemporaries were quick to assimilate similar patterns into their repertoire, notably a grand suite of drawing-room chairs attributed to William Vile (d. 1767), supplied circa 1760 to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (d. 1771) for St. Giles's House, Dorset; four pairs of chairs from this set sold Christie's, London, 26 June 1980, lots 91-94. In 1765, Robert Manwaring also published designs for side and arm chairs with blind fret decorated supports including one with a similar central foliate cartouche on the apron, see plate 12 (The Cabinet and Chair-maker’s Real Friend and Companion or, The Whole System of Chair-making Made plain and easy, London).
In 1921, the furniture historian, Herbert Cescinsky described the present chairs, at which time Sir Ernest Cunard, the shipping magnate and founder of Cunard Line, had acquired two, and Lord Ward four (op. cit., p. 9). However, by July 1931, an insurance valuation for Dudley House shows that the set numbered six suggesting that Lord Ward probably bought the other two from Cunard, The chairs were described thus:
'Set of 6 Chippendale mahogany single Chairs with backs and seats covered in petit point needlework, cream ground with figures in red and trees and landscape in natural colours, with fretted carved frames straight legs fretted and carved, backs and seats have old brass lozenge shape nails all round, and loose covers’ (Inventory and Valuation..., op. cit., p. 44).
The set was almost certainly part of a larger suite of seat-furniture when first commissioned that would have included at least two sofas and a pair of armchairs but to date the whereabouts of the remainder of the suite is unknown.
DUDLEY HOUSE
Dudley House was built in an area of Mayfair known as Upperfielde, part of the Grosvenor Estate that formed the dowry of Mary Davies. Designed by William Atkinson, construction of the house began in 1824 for Viscount Dudley. After his death in 1833 without issue, the house passed through various hands for the next sixty years; one of the most notable being Ismail Pasha ‘The Magnificent’, Khedive of Egypt, who used Dudley House as his residence on a State Visit to England in 1867. Between 1895 and 1912 the house was owned by Sir Joseph Robinson, a South African mining magnate and Randlord (known as ‘the Buccaneer’) after which it was acquired by The Hon. Sir John and Mrs. Ward. Dudley House was badly damaged by a bomb in the Blitz in 1940 and ownership passed to the Grosvenor Estate before becoming the corporate headquarters of Hammerson Properties. The house is one of the few remaining great houses in London and is now in private hands again; it has recently undergone a major restoration.