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Lot Essay
The form and decoration of these richly carved armchairs are characteristic of the French 'picturesque' style which was was captured by Thomas Chippendale’s 1754 pattern-book The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director. These chairs closely follow a design for ‘French Chairs’ illustrated in plate XVIII of the publication. Commenting on this design, Chippendale noted: ‘... A skilful Workman may also lessen the Carving, without any Prejudice to the Design. Both the Backs and the Seats must be covered with Tapestry, or other sort of Needlework'.
CLIVE OF INDIA
These armchairs are part of a suite of twelve sold from Walcot Hall, Lydbury North, Shropshire, in 1929. Walcot was the principal home of Robert Clive (1725-1774), 1st Baron Clive of Plassey, ‘Clive of India’, and the chairs may have been a special commission. Clive, the son of an unsuccessful Shropshire squire, went to India in 1744 as a junior clerk for the East India Company. Over the next two decades (1743-53, 1754-60, 1765-7), his military genius consolidated the British position in India and laid the foundations for the British Raj. Clive parlayed a £40,000 diamond investment into an estate worth over £500,000 at his death, reputedly making him the wealthiest man in England. Created Lord Clive of Plassey in 1760, he purchased Walcot and its 80,000-acre park in 1764 and commissioned Sir William Chambers (d. 1796) to redesign the house. Chambers employed master craftsmen including carver Sefferin Alken and ornamental plasterer Joseph Wilton. Chambers’ work at Walcot coincides with his commissions at Pembroke House and, in 1774, Melbourne House, where he collaborated with Thomas Chippendale.
THE MAKER
While a Chippendale attribution is tempting given the design’s close adherence to his patterns, however, the chairs lack certain signature Chippendale constructional features such as cramp cuts and batten holes, suggesting another talented maker. One candidate is Charles Arbuckle of St. Alban's Street, Pall Mall, whose documented suite for Clive’s Berkeley Square townhouse in the 1760s shares the same profile and scale, though with flatly carved crestrails ending in distinct corners and scrolled feet (O. Fairclough, ‘In the Richest and Most Elegant Manner; A Suite of Furniture for Clive of India,’ Furniture History, 2000). Part of this suite remains at Powis Castle, while a pair of armchairs and six side chairs were sold from the Collection of Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg (Sotheby’s, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 268).
THE WALCOT HALL PROVENANCE
The Walcot connection for the suite of twelve armchairs was previously cited, but remained conjectural until recently. They were listed in the dining room at Walcot Hall, and were sold sequentially as pairs from the sale on the premises by Harrods, 22-26 July 1929, lots 712-717. At the time they were catalogued as Louis XV and were painted and parcel-gilt (this is certain, as one of the chairs is illustrated in the auction catalogue, plate opposite page 30). Whether the armchairs were originally commissioned for Walcot, or moved there later from another Clive residence is yet to be determined.
At least five pairs (ten chairs) from the suite have been identified. All have had their frames stripped of their original decoration, were stained, and polished. Of the group, the majority were later upholstered with contemporary needlework covers and comprise:
1. The current pair (with needlework panels depicting figures dancing around a maypole and a seated figure with lyre).
2. A pair with needlework panels depicting figures playing cards and youths by a stream:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 766.
3. A pair with needlework panels depicting a gentleman and ladies playing cards and a courting scene with horn-playing musician:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 767.
Baron and Baroness Carl von Seidlitz; sold, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3 May 1947, lot 110.
A New York Estate; Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 93 ($556,000).
Property from an Important Private Collection; sold, Christie's, New York, 1 Feb 2024, lot 35.
4. A pair with needlework panels depicting figures in a garden setting and reveling dancers:
With Edward I. Farmer, Inc., New York, in 1934.
(Exhibited: The Fine Arts Exposition, Rockefeller Center, New York, November, 1934. See: E. Riefstahl, 'English Interiors Recreate Splendors of the Past in Many Styles and Periods at Exposition', The Art News, New York, 10 Nov. 1934, p. 6).
Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Parke-Bernet Inc, New York, 14 March 1959, lot 114.
5. A pair with Mortlake tapestry panels depicting flower-filled vases:
With Symons, Inc., New York.
Robert J. Dunham; sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 9-10 May 1947, lot 370.
Walter P. Chrysler Jr., sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 6-7 May 1960, lot 372.
(illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1968, pl.185).
With J.J. Wolff, New York.
Mrs. Reuben Trane; gifted to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1964.
(The Art Institute notes that the chairs were 'originally covered in tapestry with bouquets of flowers and urns or baskets'; the tapestry is no longer with the chairs).
A further two pairs, without needlework upholstery have also been identified. One sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 October 2010, lot 216 and the other sold from a Private Collector; Christie's, New York, 15 April 2011, lot 558. It is certainly possible that one of them could be a newly discovered pair. However, as it has been decades since some of the pairs have appeared at public auction, it is more likely that they are one of the five listed above, since stripped of their needlework covers and re-gilt.
CLIVE OF INDIA
These armchairs are part of a suite of twelve sold from Walcot Hall, Lydbury North, Shropshire, in 1929. Walcot was the principal home of Robert Clive (1725-1774), 1st Baron Clive of Plassey, ‘Clive of India’, and the chairs may have been a special commission. Clive, the son of an unsuccessful Shropshire squire, went to India in 1744 as a junior clerk for the East India Company. Over the next two decades (1743-53, 1754-60, 1765-7), his military genius consolidated the British position in India and laid the foundations for the British Raj. Clive parlayed a £40,000 diamond investment into an estate worth over £500,000 at his death, reputedly making him the wealthiest man in England. Created Lord Clive of Plassey in 1760, he purchased Walcot and its 80,000-acre park in 1764 and commissioned Sir William Chambers (d. 1796) to redesign the house. Chambers employed master craftsmen including carver Sefferin Alken and ornamental plasterer Joseph Wilton. Chambers’ work at Walcot coincides with his commissions at Pembroke House and, in 1774, Melbourne House, where he collaborated with Thomas Chippendale.
THE MAKER
While a Chippendale attribution is tempting given the design’s close adherence to his patterns, however, the chairs lack certain signature Chippendale constructional features such as cramp cuts and batten holes, suggesting another talented maker. One candidate is Charles Arbuckle of St. Alban's Street, Pall Mall, whose documented suite for Clive’s Berkeley Square townhouse in the 1760s shares the same profile and scale, though with flatly carved crestrails ending in distinct corners and scrolled feet (O. Fairclough, ‘In the Richest and Most Elegant Manner; A Suite of Furniture for Clive of India,’ Furniture History, 2000). Part of this suite remains at Powis Castle, while a pair of armchairs and six side chairs were sold from the Collection of Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg (Sotheby’s, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 268).
THE WALCOT HALL PROVENANCE
The Walcot connection for the suite of twelve armchairs was previously cited, but remained conjectural until recently. They were listed in the dining room at Walcot Hall, and were sold sequentially as pairs from the sale on the premises by Harrods, 22-26 July 1929, lots 712-717. At the time they were catalogued as Louis XV and were painted and parcel-gilt (this is certain, as one of the chairs is illustrated in the auction catalogue, plate opposite page 30). Whether the armchairs were originally commissioned for Walcot, or moved there later from another Clive residence is yet to be determined.
At least five pairs (ten chairs) from the suite have been identified. All have had their frames stripped of their original decoration, were stained, and polished. Of the group, the majority were later upholstered with contemporary needlework covers and comprise:
1. The current pair (with needlework panels depicting figures dancing around a maypole and a seated figure with lyre).
2. A pair with needlework panels depicting figures playing cards and youths by a stream:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 766.
3. A pair with needlework panels depicting a gentleman and ladies playing cards and a courting scene with horn-playing musician:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 767.
Baron and Baroness Carl von Seidlitz; sold, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3 May 1947, lot 110.
A New York Estate; Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 93 ($556,000).
Property from an Important Private Collection; sold, Christie's, New York, 1 Feb 2024, lot 35.
4. A pair with needlework panels depicting figures in a garden setting and reveling dancers:
With Edward I. Farmer, Inc., New York, in 1934.
(Exhibited: The Fine Arts Exposition, Rockefeller Center, New York, November, 1934. See: E. Riefstahl, 'English Interiors Recreate Splendors of the Past in Many Styles and Periods at Exposition', The Art News, New York, 10 Nov. 1934, p. 6).
Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Parke-Bernet Inc, New York, 14 March 1959, lot 114.
5. A pair with Mortlake tapestry panels depicting flower-filled vases:
With Symons, Inc., New York.
Robert J. Dunham; sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 9-10 May 1947, lot 370.
Walter P. Chrysler Jr., sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 6-7 May 1960, lot 372.
(illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1968, pl.185).
With J.J. Wolff, New York.
Mrs. Reuben Trane; gifted to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1964.
(The Art Institute notes that the chairs were 'originally covered in tapestry with bouquets of flowers and urns or baskets'; the tapestry is no longer with the chairs).
A further two pairs, without needlework upholstery have also been identified. One sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 October 2010, lot 216 and the other sold from a Private Collector; Christie's, New York, 15 April 2011, lot 558. It is certainly possible that one of them could be a newly discovered pair. However, as it has been decades since some of the pairs have appeared at public auction, it is more likely that they are one of the five listed above, since stripped of their needlework covers and re-gilt.