Lot Essay
This pair of armchairs, with festive 'Grecian lyre' backs, is after the model attributed to Berkeley Square cabinet-maker and upholsterer, John Linnell (d. 1796), who was commissioned to design a set of ormolu-mounted library chairs for Osterley Park (H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II). A similar set of twelve armchairs was commissioned by Mallett in the 20th century.