A PAIR OF REGENCY MAHOGANY HALL CHAIRS

The design for these hall chairs is in the early 19th century Grecian style adopted by Gillows of Lancaster. The overall form of these chairs, with their richly carved Venus-shell backs, relates to those made in 1811 for the Reverend H. Holland Edwards of Pennant, Conway, North Wales, illustrated S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Vol. 1, London, 2008, p. 203, pl. 177.
The stamp, M. S., is possibly for Martin Shannon, a chairmaker listed at 15 Bolton Street, Preston, in 1818 (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, 1986, p. 802).