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Lot Essay
The chairs are from of a larger set of at least four armchairs and ten side chairs probably commissioned by Peter Legh XIII 'the Younger’ (d. 1792) following his marriage in 1737 to Martha Benet (d. 1787) for the Legh ancestral seat, Lyme Park in Cheshire. In 1924, the furniture historian, Herbert Cescinsky, illustrated one of the armchairs and a side chair from the Lyme Park set, describing them as 'a large set at Lyme, in various rooms of the house… the original dining-room chairs’ (Cescinsky, op. cit., pp. 91-92), and in 1944, Margaret Jourdain identified the chairs as, 'a set of mahogany chairs, dating from about 1735-40, having a flattened top rail, and vertically pierced splats’ (Jourdain, op. cit., p. 687). A single armchair was first depicted in an 1890 watercolour study of the Entrance Hall at Lyme Park by a family member, Emily Jane Wodehouse, Lady Newton (d. 1901) (National Trust inventory no. 499389.4), and was photographed in the same year by Country Life (Jourdain, op. cit., p. 685, fig. 3). On 7 December 1945, part of the set comprising two armchairs and ten side chairs, was offered for sale at Sotheby’s London, The Property of the Rt. Hon. Lord Newton, Lyme Park, lot 127; this lot appears to have been unsold, and the chairs retained by the family.
The Lyme Park set is one of a small group of closely related sets of chairs. Of particular note is the low back and the distinctive Vitruvian scroll featured on the seat rails, the latter a motif particularly associated with the architect and designer William Kent (d.1748). Other examples of this pattern include a set at Rousham, Oxfordshire, of which three, and a stool, were illustrated in R. Guilding, 'Rousham', World of Interiors, December 2011, pp. 232 - 239. General James Dormer-Cottrell (d.1741) employed William Kent from 1739 - 1741 in transforming and enlarging the small Jacobean manor. Nine chairs from the set, bearing the inscription 'Dormer', are to be sold Christie's, New York, 20 May 2014. Another set was supplied at nearby Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire, a house designed by Kent's former assistant Henry Flitcroft. He employed the London cabinet-maker and 'tapissier' William Bradshaw (d. 1775) whose most important commission was at Chevening, Kent, for the 2nd Earl of Stanhope (1736 - 37). Intriguingly this commission probably included a giltwood stand that prominently displays a Vitruvian scroll (R. Edwards and M. Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet Makers, London, 1955, p. 146, pl. 53) and raises the possibility that the motif was adopted by Bradshaw through his exposure to 'Kentian' houses. Bradshaw also supplied furniture to other Kent patrons including the Earl of Leicester for Holkham (coinciding with his work for Ditchley), and
furthermore, was employed in 1751 by 3rd Earl of Burlington, Kent's most significant sponsor, supplying three couch beds for Chiswick and Burlington House (G.Beard and C.Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660 - 1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 99 - 101).
The chairs are also similar to a set of walnut dining-chairs, circa 1740-45, by the renowned Clerkenwell cabinetmaker, Giles Grendey (d. 1780) and bearing his post 1730 trade label, but these significantly lack the Vitruvian scroll (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, London, p. 242, fig. 435).
Comparable chairs include a set of twelve of apparently identical design, formerly in the collection of Mrs. Percy Uris, Broadhollow, Long Island, sold Christie's, New York, house sale, 17 & 18 November 1985 lot 65 ($330,000 including premium), while another set of slightly different pattern was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 6 July 2000, lot 57 (£190,750 including premium).
The Lyme Park set is one of a small group of closely related sets of chairs. Of particular note is the low back and the distinctive Vitruvian scroll featured on the seat rails, the latter a motif particularly associated with the architect and designer William Kent (d.1748). Other examples of this pattern include a set at Rousham, Oxfordshire, of which three, and a stool, were illustrated in R. Guilding, 'Rousham', World of Interiors, December 2011, pp. 232 - 239. General James Dormer-Cottrell (d.1741) employed William Kent from 1739 - 1741 in transforming and enlarging the small Jacobean manor. Nine chairs from the set, bearing the inscription 'Dormer', are to be sold Christie's, New York, 20 May 2014. Another set was supplied at nearby Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire, a house designed by Kent's former assistant Henry Flitcroft. He employed the London cabinet-maker and 'tapissier' William Bradshaw (d. 1775) whose most important commission was at Chevening, Kent, for the 2nd Earl of Stanhope (1736 - 37). Intriguingly this commission probably included a giltwood stand that prominently displays a Vitruvian scroll (R. Edwards and M. Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet Makers, London, 1955, p. 146, pl. 53) and raises the possibility that the motif was adopted by Bradshaw through his exposure to 'Kentian' houses. Bradshaw also supplied furniture to other Kent patrons including the Earl of Leicester for Holkham (coinciding with his work for Ditchley), and
furthermore, was employed in 1751 by 3rd Earl of Burlington, Kent's most significant sponsor, supplying three couch beds for Chiswick and Burlington House (G.Beard and C.Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660 - 1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 99 - 101).
The chairs are also similar to a set of walnut dining-chairs, circa 1740-45, by the renowned Clerkenwell cabinetmaker, Giles Grendey (d. 1780) and bearing his post 1730 trade label, but these significantly lack the Vitruvian scroll (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, London, p. 242, fig. 435).
Comparable chairs include a set of twelve of apparently identical design, formerly in the collection of Mrs. Percy Uris, Broadhollow, Long Island, sold Christie's, New York, house sale, 17 & 18 November 1985 lot 65 ($330,000 including premium), while another set of slightly different pattern was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 6 July 2000, lot 57 (£190,750 including premium).