A LATE VICTORIAN CARVED EBONISED SOFA AND PAIR OF ARMCHAIRS

Late 17th-century Coromandel Coast ebony chairs had been fashionable in Britain ever since Horace Walpole publicised his collection at Strawberry Hill in 1774. But the stimulus for the present suite was probably the acquisition of a similar chair by the Victoria and Albert Museum from the Hamilton Palace sale in 1882. The carving by Collinson and Lock, who specialised in ebonised finishes, is arguably superior to Indian and Ceylonese prototypes.