THE SEVEN CHAIRS CIRCA 1765, PROBABLY SCOTTISH

Details

A SET OF SEVEN GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS, TOGETHER WITH A LATER COPY
THE SEVEN CHAIRS CIRCA 1765, PROBABLY SCOTTISH
After designs by Thomas Chippendale, each serpentine back with gothic embellishments and pierced upright splat, serpentine close-nailed damask seat, on cabriole legs with scroll feet, two chairs with 'Frank Partridge' labels applied to seat rails
38 in. (96.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 25 November 1976, lot 45.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 26 June 1986, lot 95.
With Partridge, London.
Acquired by Irene Roosevelt Aitken from the above in 1994.

Literature

Partridge, Summer Exhibition Catalogue, 1987, p. 64.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
T.A. Strange, English Furniture, Decoration, Woodwork & Allied Arts, London, n.d., p. 132, pl. 10.
E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British Eighteenth Century Furniture Design, London, 1990, p. 62.
E. Lewis Hinckley, Masterpieces of Queen Anne and Georgian Furniture, New York, 1991, p. 73, pl. 105.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Elizabeth Seigel Vice President, Specialist, Head of Private and Iconic Collections

eseigel@christies.com +1 212 484 4812

Lot Essay

The chairs are modeled after patterns published in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker's Director, 1762 (3rd edition). The back copies the middle chair pattern in plate X, while the leg design is shown on the right hand chair in plate XIII. The designs are dated 1753 and 1761, respectively. Chippendale advises that 'the Seats look best when stuffed over the Rails, and have a Brass Border neatly chased; but are most commonly done with Brass Nails, in one or two Rows; and sometimes the Nails are done to imitate Fretwork'.

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