A MATCHED SET OF TWELVE GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS

The chairbacks are of Grecian pelta-shield form with palm-flower splats radiating from a sunflower medallion and derive from a 'bar-back' sofa pattern published in A. Hepplewhite & Co.'s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788, pl. 26, and on a 'Camel back stay rail' chair featured in the late 1780s archives of Gillows (L. Boynton, ed., Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Royston, 1995, fig. 260) and one example was made for a Mrs Chadwick, December 1785 (S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster & London, vol. I, 2008, p. 165, pl. 123). A set of nine chairs of almost identical pattern was sold anonymously [50 Years of Collecting: The Decorative Arts of Georgian England], Christie's, London, 14 May 2003, lot 95 (sold after the sale £59,950), and another set of four of the same pattern was sold as lot 43 (£62,140).