A SET OF FOUR GEORGE III MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS

These carved mahogany chairs relate to a set of seat-furniture in H.M. Treasury that comprises a giltwood chair of state and twelve mahogany chairs carved on the knees with lion-masks, the latter dating from 1730-40 (W.A. Thorpe, ‘Walpole and after’, Country Life, 12 January 1951, pp. 125-126). However, the Treasury chairs are undoubtedly from more than one set with the four largest chairs measuring 3 ft. 6 in. (106.68 cm.) high, seven chairs 3 ft. 3 in. (99.06 cm.) high, and one chair 3ft. 1 ½ in. (95.25 cm.) high. No craftsman has been identified to date as having supplied this seat-furniture but they were probably commissioned by Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer (generally regarded as the de facto first prime minister of Great Britain), following the architect-designer William Kent’s (1685-1748) creation of a new Treasury House (later 10 Downing Street) between 1732-35. Carved mahogany seat-furniture with lion-masks includes a set, c. 1725-30, formerly at Copped Hall, Essex, and another from Holkham, Norfolk (R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. I, Woodbridge, 1954, plate XIV, fig. 122).