Lot Essay
The design of these chairs is taken from the celebrated Houghton eagle suite, of which one pair was sold in the Houghton sale, in these Rooms, 8 December 1994, lot 130. The Houghton suite was supplied to Sir Robert Walpole, later 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745) for the Marble Parlour at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, in the early 1730s. The chairs display Venus's acanthus-enriched shell badge within a scalloped cartouche on their frames, while the cabriole legs terminate in Jupiter's eagle-claws and the god's attendant eagles emerge from the serpentined arms.
One of the chairs from the Houghton eagle suite is illustrated in P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture, The Age of Mahogany, London, 1908, pp. 32-33, figs. 28-9 and P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, p. 266, fig. 126.
One of the chairs from the Houghton eagle suite is illustrated in P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture, The Age of Mahogany, London, 1908, pp. 32-33, figs. 28-9 and P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, p. 266, fig. 126.