A PAIR OF GEORGE III STAINED BEECHWOOD ARMCHAIRS
THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR (LOT 445)
A PAIR OF GEORGE III STAINED BEECHWOOD ARMCHAIRS

POSSIBLY BY WILLIAM KING, CIRCA 1770

Details
A PAIR OF GEORGE III STAINED BEECHWOOD ARMCHAIRS
POSSIBLY BY WILLIAM KING, CIRCA 1770
Each upholstered in yellow leather, with channeled outscrolled arms above serpentine seat and cabriole legs, each with brands GR HP 1912 and KENSINGTON (CROWN) 1911, one with back rail inscribed in ink NO and with ink inscription W KING UPH, the front rail with typed paper label REMOVED FROM KEN. PALACE and another printed and inscribed paper label PALACE OF HOLYROOD HOUSE 3 ROOM 26B NO. 15, formerly gilded (2)
Provenance
The Royal collection at Kensington Palace, London and Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh [according to the brands].
The Succession of the Countess Alfreda di Carpegna; Sotheby's, New York, 19 October 1991, lot 137 or
Acquired from Devenish & Co., New York, 1983.

Lot Essay

These chairs bear various Royal inventory marks from Kensington Palace in London and Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. They were certainly at Kensington by 1911 at which time they were apparently sent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for the first visit of King George V and Queen Mary. A photograph of circa 1912 of the Throne Room at Holyrood shows three chairs of this model, together with a group of six related stools. The chairs in the photograph retain a gilt surface at the time; it appears that the back frame may have a border of decorative gadroon-carving (in which case it might be a virtually identical model) or this may actually be an upholstery ribbon. It is unclear when the chairs might have left the Royal Collection, but a 1927 inventory of Holyroodhouse does not include them in the Throne Room, which at the time was undergoing alterations. However, the brands on the chairs confirm a date at Holyroodhouse between 1912 and 1927.

The maker's inscription 'W. King Uph' which appears on two of the chairs is intriguing. While there were many makers of this name, the most likely candidate is William King (d. 1774), who apprenticed under Philip Bell, thereafter establishing his own workshop in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1766.

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