CIRCA 1790, AFTER THE DESIGN BY SIR WILLIAM CHAMBERS OR JOHN YENN

The stool pattern relates to a set commissioned by George III for his Windsor Castle state apartments, designed in the 'Roman' fashion promoted by court architects, Sir William Chambers and Robert Adam. A set of almost identical stools were illustrated in situ in 'The King's Closet' at Windsor in Charles Wild's watercolour, engraved by W. I. Bennett and published 1 October 1816 (H. Roberts 'A Neoclassical Episode at Windsor', Furniture History, 1997, p.177-187, fig.1).
During the 1780s and 1790s work in the King's Apartment saw the introduction of neoclassical decoration. At the time William Chambers was occupied at Somerset House and he delegated much of his royal and private work to his assistant John Yenn, Clerk of the Works at The Queen's House (Buckingham House, now Palace), the Mews, Kensington Palace and Carlton House. Although their is no documentary evidence identifying the maker of the stools, the likely candidate for their authorship is Robert Campbell of 33 Marylebone St., Piccadilly, who was described in 1780 as 'Upholsterers to their Majesties' and 'Cabinet maker to the Prince of Wales' (Ed. G. Beard, C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pp.142-143). W.H. Pyne in the first volume of his three-volume History of the Royal Residences, published in 1819, identifies Campbell as responsible for a 'chair of state' in 'The King's Audience Chamber' at Windsor, and it seems likely that he also made the accompanying stools together with the canopy frame and back and window seat illustrated in Pyne's plate (op cit., p. 178).
A pair of closely related stools labelled for Windsor Castle was sold, Visions of Collecting, Christie's, London, 19 September 2019, lot 30 (£13,750 including premium).