A VICTORIAN CUT-GLASS THRONE CHAIR

Much like the magnificent console and mirror in the preceding lot 672, Osler’s design for a throne chair first displayed at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle powerfully captures ‘the idea of the old Moorish Alhambra’ and ‘ideas of Persian splendour’ which ultimately became popular among India’s princely families (The Pottery and Glass Trades’ Journal, vol. 1, no. 7, July 1878, p. 99). An illustration of a chair numbered ‘2895’ appears in Osler’s Calcutta pattern book in 1901, which features a nearly identical teardrop form central finial, with similarly bulbous terminals and slightly canted back legs. Another design dated December 1880 is drawn with similarly distinct faceted uprights and balustraded arms. A suite of seating furniture, including a large settee, was ordered from Osler between 1881 and 1924 for Shiv Nivas Palace, Udaipur and is illustrated in situ, circa 1960, in D. Ahlawat, “Empire of Glass: F. & C. Osler in India, 1840-1930”, Journal of Design History, Oxford, 2008, vol. 21, no. 2, p. 167. A similar chair with fan form cresting was sold at Christie’s, London, 20 September 2012, lot 125.