CIRCA 1760

This richly carved chair has its serpentined frame embellished with Roman acanthus foliage and scalloped C-scrolls in the French rocaille fashion. First popularised as the 'Modern' style in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754, its form derives from the Louis XV `fauteuil' of the 1730s as featured in the engraved Oeuvres of Juste-Aurele Meissonnier (M. Jarry, Le Siège Français, Fribourg, 1973, D.27). Sculpted with cartouches of shells recalling the triumph of the Roman goddess Venus, the chair corresponds to Chippendale's 'French chairs', and in particular to plate XXII in the third edition of his Director (1763), the accompanying text stating `both the Backs and the Seats must be covered with Tapestry, or other sort of needlework'.
A related chair of this model, with similar carved details, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, (W.67-1926) from the collection of G.B. Croft Lyons. An almost identical chair was sold Christie’s, London, 5 July 1990, lot 45 (£17,000 including premium), and another sold Christie’s, London, 3 July 1997, lot 88 (£38,000 including premium).