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Lot Essay
Related parlour chairs, with loose upholstered seats, were listed in the Breakast Room in the 1726 inventory of Erddig, Wales (O. Garnett, Erddig, London, 1999, pp. 54-55). Their rectilinear 'banister' or vase splats relate to those on the so-called 'India' [Chinese pattern] chairs that became fashionable in the early years of George I's reign (A. Bowett, 'The India-backed chair, 1715-50', Apollo, January 2003, pp.3-9).
A similar F brand also features on a set of chairs at Wilton House, Wiltshire, that has been identified with the 5th Viscount Fizwilliam of Merrion and whose daughter Mary married Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke. Fitzwilliam built Mount Merrion House on the hill overlooking Merrion and Dublin Bay in 1711. He moved to England in around 1726 where his family became favorites at the court, serving the Prince of Wales who succeeded as George II in 1727. At this time Mount Merrion was leased out to successive tenants.
In 1946, French and Company referred to the chairs as 'Clarendon' chairs, reputed to have been made for the Earl of Clarendon and with the Queensberry family at Queensberry House in Richmond. This provenance was provided by William Jaffe, from whom the dealers had purchased the chairs. Jaffe had in turn purchased from Viscount Cave, Lord Chancellor (whose widow was called 'Countess Cave of Richmond' following his untimely death while he was being elevated to the Earldom). Cave had reputedly obtained these from Queensberry House. Queensberry House, originally known as Cholmondeley House, was built by George, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley, circa 1740, and later purchased by William, 4th Duke of Queensberry, in 1780. The chairs may have arrived into the Queensberry House collection via 6th Viscount Fitzwilliam (d.1776), who married Catherine, the daughter of Sir Matthew Decker Bt. of Richmond. The Clarendon connection with the Queensberry family came into being when Catherine, daughter of Henry, Earl of Clarendon, married the 2nd Duke of Queensberry (d. 1778) in 1720. While the chairs may have descended as such, this would not explain the crowned F brand and seems a bit unlikely.
A pair of chairs of this model, presumably from the same set, was sold as part of the Benjamin Sonnenberg Collection, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 5-9 June 1979, lot 1680, although there is no mention of a brand.
A similar F brand also features on a set of chairs at Wilton House, Wiltshire, that has been identified with the 5th Viscount Fizwilliam of Merrion and whose daughter Mary married Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke. Fitzwilliam built Mount Merrion House on the hill overlooking Merrion and Dublin Bay in 1711. He moved to England in around 1726 where his family became favorites at the court, serving the Prince of Wales who succeeded as George II in 1727. At this time Mount Merrion was leased out to successive tenants.
In 1946, French and Company referred to the chairs as 'Clarendon' chairs, reputed to have been made for the Earl of Clarendon and with the Queensberry family at Queensberry House in Richmond. This provenance was provided by William Jaffe, from whom the dealers had purchased the chairs. Jaffe had in turn purchased from Viscount Cave, Lord Chancellor (whose widow was called 'Countess Cave of Richmond' following his untimely death while he was being elevated to the Earldom). Cave had reputedly obtained these from Queensberry House. Queensberry House, originally known as Cholmondeley House, was built by George, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley, circa 1740, and later purchased by William, 4th Duke of Queensberry, in 1780. The chairs may have arrived into the Queensberry House collection via 6th Viscount Fitzwilliam (d.1776), who married Catherine, the daughter of Sir Matthew Decker Bt. of Richmond. The Clarendon connection with the Queensberry family came into being when Catherine, daughter of Henry, Earl of Clarendon, married the 2nd Duke of Queensberry (d. 1778) in 1720. While the chairs may have descended as such, this would not explain the crowned F brand and seems a bit unlikely.
A pair of chairs of this model, presumably from the same set, was sold as part of the Benjamin Sonnenberg Collection, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 5-9 June 1979, lot 1680, although there is no mention of a brand.