NINE GEORGE III, THREE SIDE CHAIRS 20TH CENTURY

A set of ten dining-chairs with similar triple-columned back, was almost certainly supplied by Gillows to Sir John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke (1750-1827) for Henham Hall, Suffolk, circa 1795 and sold by his descendant, Christie's Melbourne, 16-17 November 1998, lot 361. The Stradbroke chairs may well have been designed by James Wyatt who was employed by the 1st Earl to rebuild Henham Hall, and who had a close working relationship with Gillows. A related chair, named a 'Spanish-back' chair, appears in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Books for December 1789 (see L. Boynton, Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Royston, 1995, fig. 279).