This form of Louis Seize style chair relates to the fashion adopted in the 1780s by George, Prince of Wales and his architect Henry Holland (d. 1806) in the furnishing of Carlton House, London, which was executed by chair-makers such as Franois Herv (d. 1796). A pattern for this type of drawing-room chair, with bow front and column-supported arms, featured in Thomas Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, 1893 (pl. XXXVI). An armchair closely related to this design has been recorded with the stamp of the chair-maker B. Harmer (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 33 and fig. 472).
The Drum, Midlothian was refurnished in 1862, when the property was acquired by the More-Nisbett family (Ian Gow, 'The Drum', Country Life, 15 August 1991, pp. 64-65).