A GEORGE III GILTWOOD BERGERE
Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s F… Read more PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
A GEORGE III GILTWOOD BERGERE

ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770

Details
A GEORGE III GILTWOOD BERGERE
ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770
With an arched molded crestrail centered by flower bouquet, over a curved padded back and loose cushion seat covered in pink and white cotton, above a bowed, molded seatrail centered with a shell, on cabriole legs
Provenance
Acquired from Mallett, London, 2000.
Special notice
Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Lot Essay

The bergere reflects the ‘French taste’ promoted in Chippendale’s 1762 Director and is a rare form among his known oeuvre. Suites of seat furniture supplied by Chippendale generally had pairs of chairs and essentially a maximum of four chairs and not all sets would include bergeres. One such suite supplied to Harewood House in 1775 for the Yellow Damask Sitting room remains there today (C. Gilbert, ‘Chippendale’s Harewood Commission,’ Furniture History, 1973, p.3).

It can be attributed to Chippendale’s workshop based on both constructional and stylistic features that unique to his documented work. Batten carrying holes, the tiny holes on the seatframe used by his workshop to secure the chairs for transport are visible and the distinctive scrolled carving to the feet are also unique to his workshop. The frame also shows traces of a previous painted scheme which would also be typical of Chippendale furniture from this era. A single bergere that was supplied to the actor David Garrick (1717-79) in 1776 for the Blue Bedroom for his villa at Hampton, most closely relates to the present lot. Interestingly, it is painted and shares the same profile, cresting, fan-carved knees and rosette-carved front feet (Property of the Estate of Mary, Viscountess Rothermere; Christie’s, New York, 16 April 1994, lot 142).

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