SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF GILES GRENDEY

This chair, exotically coloured in Chinese red with parcel-gilding, shaped moulded stretchers and caned seat, relates to one of the most celebrated suites of London furniture from the 18th century, known as 'The Infantado Suite' from the castle of Lazcano in northern Spain.
These masterpieces from the Clerkenwell workshop of Giles Grendey (d. 1780) were designed en suite with 'pier-set' card-tables, mirrors and secretaire-cabinets, probably for the Spanish castle of Lazcano. The Lazcano furnishings, comprising more than seventy-seven items, are the largest recorded suite of 18th century English furniture. Part of the suite was published in 1944, photographed in situ in the late 19th century in the Saloon at Lazcano Castle after the majority of the suite had been acquired in 1930 by the Venice-based dealer Adolph Loewi. Many of the items from the now widely dispersed suite are represented in major museums, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Temple Newsam House, Leeds. Three pairs of chairs from the suite were sold by a charitable trust, Christie's, London, 10 July 2003, lots 132-134 (£106,050, £53,775, and £53,775 including premium).