AN IRISH MAHOGANY ARMCHAIR

The bergère chair with its orb-capped and reeded torch-like pillars is designed in the French Empire fashion promoted by George Bullock (d.1818) of Tenterden Street and from 1809 by R. Ackermann's Repository of Art. Such robust architecture also relates to that of bergères designed to harmonise with the ducal magnificence of the mediaeval style Drawing Room at Eaton Hall, Cheshire created by the 2nd Earl Grosvenor's Surveyor William Porden (d.1822) (J.C. Buckler, View of Eaton Hall, 1826). However they appear to relate in particular to the style of John Buonarotti Papworth (d.1847), such as the bergère he designed for Frederick Cass at Little Grove, Hertfordshire (J. Lever, Architects' Designs for Furniture, London, 1982, fig. 29).