CIRCA 1760

The pattern for a serpentine-framed and ribbon-splat chair with scrolled feet first featured in William de la Cour's First Book of Ornament, 1741. However, the present chairs relate more closely to the parlour chair patterns published in Robert Manwaring's The Cabinet and Chair-Maker's Real Friend and Companion, 1765 (E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, 1990, pp. 59, 76 and 77). Although the chair pattern does not relate directly to a specific design by Thomas Chippendale, it certainly reflects the influence of his chair patterns published in The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754, pls. XIII and XIV.

A set of chairs of this identical pattern was sold, the property of a Lady, Christie's, New York, 27 October 2006, lot 180 (ten of the eighteen chairs were eighteenth century).