A REGENCY MAHOGANY METAMORPHIC LIBRARY ARMCHAIR
Lot 156

A REGENCY MAHOGANY METAMORPHIC LIBRARY ARMCHAIR

BY WILLIAM WILKINSON, CIRCA 1815

Closed19 January 2017

Price Realised

USD 2,500

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A REGENCY MAHOGANY METAMORPHIC LIBRARY ARMCHAIR
BY WILLIAM WILKINSON, CIRCA 1815
With acanthus-carved splat and downswept reeded arms, the seat opening to form library steps, stamped Wilkinson, Ludgate Hill, WF and 3479, formerly with rest to top step, but possibly not original

Specialist note

A distinctly nineteenth-century invention the Metamorphic Library Chair was heralded as both a novel and practical object.
William Wilkinson (d. 1833), who stamped this piece, was an upholsterer and cabinet-maker, who traded from 1808 at 14 Ludgate Hill, London. He is particularly known for his patent furniture which was a great success. His sons, William and Charles, joined him in the business and it continued after their father's death as William & Charles Wilkinson. A nearly identical chair manufactured by Messrs. Morgan and Saunders, of Catherine Street, is illustrated in Ackermann's Repository of Arts, I, 6, pl. 3, p. 40, July 1811, A206 (reproduced in P. Agius, Ackermann's Regency Furniture & Interiors, 1984, p. 60, pl. 29).