A PAIR OF GEORGE III PAINTED OAK HALL CHAIRS

The antiquarian and 'stone' painted chairs, of Roman 'back stool' form and antique-fluted columnar legs terminating in pad feet, display a marquess's coronet and lion crest. Previously thought to have been the crest of the Percy family, Dukes of Northumberland, subsequent research by the College of Arms has proved unsuccessful in identifying the crest.

A paint analysis undertaken by Catherine Hassall of University College London showed that the chairs originally had a brown varnished scheme, which was removed when the chairs were white-painted, with areas of oil gilding around the seat edges. Three subsequent layers of decoration were added which date to before the Second World War - two white and one buff-coloured - which have since been removed to reveal the first white scheme.