CIRCA 1810

This pair of Regency mahogany stools is derived from a 'Roman' pattern for 'Drawing Room X Seats' by George Smith (1786-1826), published in his Collection of Designs for Household Furniture, 1808, plate 53. Other closely related designs include one published by Thomas Hope in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. 12, fig. 4, and another in Percier & Fontaine's Receuil de Decorations Interieurs, 1812, plate 39.
Thirkleby Hall, North Yorkshire was erected by Sir Thomas Frankland Bart. in the Italian style to the designs of James Wyatt (John Martin Robinson, Felling the Ancient Oaks, London, 2011, pp. 174-179). These stools may have been acquired during the tenure of Sir Thomas's son, Sir Robert Frankland-Russell (1784–1849), who inherited a fortune, and the estate of Chequers Court, Buckinghamshire, through his Russell cousins, added 'Russell' to his surname, and together with his wife, Louisa Anne, embarked on substantially improving the estate. The Frankland-Russells had no son, and the estate was eventually succeeded to by their third daughter married to Sir William Payne-Gallwey. With the death of the last of the Payne-Gallweys during the First World War, the estate was sold, and the house demolished in 1927.