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Lot Essay
This pair of chairs, along with the following lot, were part of a larger suite once comprising six chairs and a daybed, formerly in the collection of Archbold van Beuren. The daybed is now in the collection at Temple Newsam House (see C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, 3 vols., vol. III, 1998, pp. 648-649, no. 814). Another chair from this suite was sold Sotheby’s, London, 14-15 October, 2003, lot 23 (£14,400). Though originally catalogued as German, the distinct use of beechwood suggests that these were made in London for the export market. The lightweight material replaced the conventional use of walnut, and lent itself well to japanning (H. Huth, Lacquer of the West – The History of a Craft and an Industry, 1550-1950, 1971, p. 46).
A nearly identical armchair was in the Palazzo Pallavicini in Rome (illustrated H. Huth, pl. 84) with similarly carved scrolled crest rail flanked by S-scrolls, and square cabriole legs connected by a waved stretcher. Another nearly identical pair of of Queen Anne japanned armchairs were sold Christie’s, London, 12 April 1997, lot 119 (£21,850). Also previously in the collection of the Palazzo Pallavicini is the cabinet and matching commode by celebrated English maker Giles Grendey, also in the Getty collection and offered as lots 22 and 23. The Pallavicini family has a documented history of acquiring English japanned furniture. Four early 18th century English bureau cabinets and a chair are part of a larger suite at the Palazzo Pallavicini in Rome which were presumably commissioned by Giovanni Battista Rospigliosi Pallavicini (d. 1722) (H. Huth, p.84 and pls. 57-58 and 84) after he purchased the Palazzo in 1704. One of Grendey’s famous commissions of red japanned seating furniture was the large suite supplied to the Dukes of Infantado for their palace in San Sebastian, Northern Spain (for further information on this suite and Grendey’s revered japanned furniture, see lot 588 in this sale).
Another matching single chair also with a French & Company number (at the time thought to be 12998, but likely is 12908 and thus the same as the present lot) was sold from the Collection of Florence and Herbert Irving; Christie's, New York, 21 March 2019, lot 1368.
A nearly identical armchair was in the Palazzo Pallavicini in Rome (illustrated H. Huth, pl. 84) with similarly carved scrolled crest rail flanked by S-scrolls, and square cabriole legs connected by a waved stretcher. Another nearly identical pair of of Queen Anne japanned armchairs were sold Christie’s, London, 12 April 1997, lot 119 (£21,850). Also previously in the collection of the Palazzo Pallavicini is the cabinet and matching commode by celebrated English maker Giles Grendey, also in the Getty collection and offered as lots 22 and 23. The Pallavicini family has a documented history of acquiring English japanned furniture. Four early 18th century English bureau cabinets and a chair are part of a larger suite at the Palazzo Pallavicini in Rome which were presumably commissioned by Giovanni Battista Rospigliosi Pallavicini (d. 1722) (H. Huth, p.84 and pls. 57-58 and 84) after he purchased the Palazzo in 1704. One of Grendey’s famous commissions of red japanned seating furniture was the large suite supplied to the Dukes of Infantado for their palace in San Sebastian, Northern Spain (for further information on this suite and Grendey’s revered japanned furniture, see lot 588 in this sale).
Another matching single chair also with a French & Company number (at the time thought to be 12998, but likely is 12908 and thus the same as the present lot) was sold from the Collection of Florence and Herbert Irving; Christie's, New York, 21 March 2019, lot 1368.