ATTRIBUTED TO MAYHEW & INCE, CIRCA 1770

This was originally part of a collection of chairs formed by Frederick Parker (d. 1927), whose firm of furniture makers became one of the most famous in furniture history, Parker Knoll Ltd. Established in 1869, the firm offered a huge range of reproduction and contemporary furniture. A key to this success was Parker's own antique collection, which included some three hundred chairs, and was amassed during the early decades of the 20th Century. The collection served as an invaluable and unusual working source for the craftsmen and designers of the firm, enabling them to reproduce specific items and learn historic techniques of construction.