A GEORGE III MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR

Comparision with this lot can be made with a similar pair, see Christie's, 14 June 2001, lot 112. These handsome library chairs reflect the elegant French 'Cabriole' chair introduced around 1780, while their spindled balustrades evoke the romance of rural furniture associated with George III's Windsor (see Messrs A. Hepplewhite & Co., The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788). Their spindled rods are reed-enriched in harmony with the 'antique' ornament of the back pilasters and arm-supports, which are flowered with Roman acanthus and antique-fluted like the ribbons banding the hollowed seat-rails and pillared legs. Certain features of the chairs can be related to hall chairs made by the St. Martin's Lane firm of Thomas Chippendale (d. 1779) (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1979, vol. II, p. 103, fig. 174).