A PAIR OF MID-VICTORIAN MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS
This lot will be removed to an off-site warehouse … Read more
A PAIR OF MID-VICTORIAN MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS

POSSIBLY BY WRIGHT AND MANSFIELD, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF MID-VICTORIAN MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS
POSSIBLY BY WRIGHT AND MANSFIELD, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY
Each with a foliate-carved arched padded back and serpentine seat upholstered in floral silk, the arms with scrolled terminals and similar supports with foliate brackets, on square tapering legs headed by oval sunflower paterae and with moulded collars
42 in. (107 cm.) high; 26 in. (66 cm.) wide; 22 in. (56 cm.) deep
Provenance
Acquired from Leonard Knight, St. James's, London, 4 July 1957, and thence by descent
Special notice
This lot will be removed to an off-site warehouse at the close of business on the day of sale - 2 weeks free storage

Lot Essay

The chairs relate to designs by John Linnell (d.1796), the cabinet-maker and contemporary of Thomas Chippendale and Messr's Mayhew & Ince, whose family firm was established by his father William Linnell (d. 1763) in London's St Martin's Lane before moving to Berkeley Square in 1750. A pen and ink and watercolour design of circa 1768 - 70 in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum offers an intriguing comparison.
Such material provided a rich source of designs for 19th century cabinet-makers such as Wright & Mansfield. Lucy Wood notes 'A century later (i.e. in the 1860s) Wright & Mansfield were using old pieces - "the real work of the best makers, Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Adam, Richardson" - as "models for their atelier"', as reported prior to their closing down sale in 1887, "and with these are several admirable reproductions by English workmen which show that our modern cabinet-makers can execute any design put before them quite as well as the old masters of their craft...." - quoted from a report in The Times' (L.Wood, Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, 2007, p. 36 / 37.

More from Christie's Interiors - Style & Spirit

View All
View All