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A set of four George III carved giltwood open armchairs, circa 1790s, possibly by Gillows
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Description
Property from a Private English Collection
A set of four George III carved giltwood open armchairs, circa 1790s, possibly by Gillows
in the French Louis XVI manner, the shield-shaped ribbon-carved backs on supports with a piastre frieze, the armrests terminating in rosettes, the fluted legs terminating in toupie feet, with later deep-buttoned grey upholstery, re-gilt
Provenance
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834) for Dropmore, Buckinghamshire (part of a set of eighteen alongside a matching stool and window seat)
Sold by order of the executors of the late Viscount Kelmsley,
Sotheby & Co, The Valuable Contents of Dropmore, Burnham, Buckinghamshire, 18th-20th March 1969, as part of lot 114, ill. p.33 and 39.
Bonhams London, 3rd November 2010, lot 42
Catalogue note
Dropmore in Buckinghamshire was built for William Wyndham Grenville, who served as Prime Minister from 1806 to 1807. It was constructed while he was still serving as Foreign Secretary in the mid-1790s, and both architects Samuel Wyatt and Charles Heathcote Tatham were employed in its design. This suite of chairs are visible in the Country Life photos taken at Dropmore, published in 1956. Other matching chairs from the suite have appeared at auction with confirmed Dropmore provenance, such as the pair sold at Sotheby's London, 26th November 2003, lot 136.
Though there are no surviving documents that record the furnishings of Dropmore, Grenville's name appears in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books in 1796, and Wyatt also worked with Gillows on other major commissions such as Tatton Park - it is therefore a strong possibility that Gillows could have provided the furniture for Dropmore. A set of four chairs of the same model as the present lot, one of which had the pencil inscription R Gillow to the underside, sold at Christie's London, lot 76. A sketch for a very similar shield-back chair with rosettes at the corners is recorded in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books, relating to a commission for Robert Peel in 1786.1
1 This illustration is reproduced in Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, vol I, Woodbridge, 2009, p.181, pl.147.
Additional Notices & Disclaimers
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
A set of four George III carved giltwood open armchairs, circa 1790s, possibly by Gillows
in the French Louis XVI manner, the shield-shaped ribbon-carved backs on supports with a piastre frieze, the armrests terminating in rosettes, the fluted legs terminating in toupie feet, with later deep-buttoned grey upholstery, re-gilt
Provenance
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834) for Dropmore, Buckinghamshire (part of a set of eighteen alongside a matching stool and window seat)
Sold by order of the executors of the late Viscount Kelmsley,
Sotheby & Co, The Valuable Contents of Dropmore, Burnham, Buckinghamshire, 18th-20th March 1969, as part of lot 114, ill. p.33 and 39.
Bonhams London, 3rd November 2010, lot 42
Catalogue note
Dropmore in Buckinghamshire was built for William Wyndham Grenville, who served as Prime Minister from 1806 to 1807. It was constructed while he was still serving as Foreign Secretary in the mid-1790s, and both architects Samuel Wyatt and Charles Heathcote Tatham were employed in its design. This suite of chairs are visible in the Country Life photos taken at Dropmore, published in 1956. Other matching chairs from the suite have appeared at auction with confirmed Dropmore provenance, such as the pair sold at Sotheby's London, 26th November 2003, lot 136.
Though there are no surviving documents that record the furnishings of Dropmore, Grenville's name appears in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books in 1796, and Wyatt also worked with Gillows on other major commissions such as Tatton Park - it is therefore a strong possibility that Gillows could have provided the furniture for Dropmore. A set of four chairs of the same model as the present lot, one of which had the pencil inscription R Gillow to the underside, sold at Christie's London, lot 76. A sketch for a very similar shield-back chair with rosettes at the corners is recorded in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books, relating to a commission for Robert Peel in 1786.1
1 This illustration is reproduced in Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, vol I, Woodbridge, 2009, p.181, pl.147.
Additional Notices & Disclaimers
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
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Property from a Private English Collection
A set of four George III carved giltwood open armchairs, circa 1790s, possibly by Gillows
in the French Louis XVI manner, the shield-shaped ribbon-carved backs on supports with a piastre frieze, the armrests terminating in rosettes, the fluted legs terminating in toupie feet, with later deep-buttoned grey upholstery, re-gilt
Provenance
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834) for Dropmore, Buckinghamshire (part of a set of eighteen alongside a matching stool and window seat)
Sold by order of the executors of the late Viscount Kelmsley,
Sotheby & Co, The Valuable Contents of Dropmore, Burnham, Buckinghamshire, 18th-20th March 1969, as part of lot 114, ill. p.33 and 39.
Bonhams London, 3rd November 2010, lot 42
Catalogue note
Dropmore in Buckinghamshire was built for William Wyndham Grenville, who served as Prime Minister from 1806 to 1807. It was constructed while he was still serving as Foreign Secretary in the mid-1790s, and both architects Samuel Wyatt and Charles Heathcote Tatham were employed in its design. This suite of chairs are visible in the Country Life photos taken at Dropmore, published in 1956. Other matching chairs from the suite have appeared at auction with confirmed Dropmore provenance, such as the pair sold at Sotheby's London, 26th November 2003, lot 136.
Though there are no surviving documents that record the furnishings of Dropmore, Grenville's name appears in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books in 1796, and Wyatt also worked with Gillows on other major commissions such as Tatton Park - it is therefore a strong possibility that Gillows could have provided the furniture for Dropmore. A set of four chairs of the same model as the present lot, one of which had the pencil inscription R Gillow to the underside, sold at Christie's London, lot 76. A sketch for a very similar shield-back chair with rosettes at the corners is recorded in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books, relating to a commission for Robert Peel in 1786.1
1 This illustration is reproduced in Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, vol I, Woodbridge, 2009, p.181, pl.147.
Additional Notices & Disclaimers
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
A set of four George III carved giltwood open armchairs, circa 1790s, possibly by Gillows
in the French Louis XVI manner, the shield-shaped ribbon-carved backs on supports with a piastre frieze, the armrests terminating in rosettes, the fluted legs terminating in toupie feet, with later deep-buttoned grey upholstery, re-gilt
Provenance
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834) for Dropmore, Buckinghamshire (part of a set of eighteen alongside a matching stool and window seat)
Sold by order of the executors of the late Viscount Kelmsley,
Sotheby & Co, The Valuable Contents of Dropmore, Burnham, Buckinghamshire, 18th-20th March 1969, as part of lot 114, ill. p.33 and 39.
Bonhams London, 3rd November 2010, lot 42
Catalogue note
Dropmore in Buckinghamshire was built for William Wyndham Grenville, who served as Prime Minister from 1806 to 1807. It was constructed while he was still serving as Foreign Secretary in the mid-1790s, and both architects Samuel Wyatt and Charles Heathcote Tatham were employed in its design. This suite of chairs are visible in the Country Life photos taken at Dropmore, published in 1956. Other matching chairs from the suite have appeared at auction with confirmed Dropmore provenance, such as the pair sold at Sotheby's London, 26th November 2003, lot 136.
Though there are no surviving documents that record the furnishings of Dropmore, Grenville's name appears in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books in 1796, and Wyatt also worked with Gillows on other major commissions such as Tatton Park - it is therefore a strong possibility that Gillows could have provided the furniture for Dropmore. A set of four chairs of the same model as the present lot, one of which had the pencil inscription R Gillow to the underside, sold at Christie's London, lot 76. A sketch for a very similar shield-back chair with rosettes at the corners is recorded in the Gillows Estimate Sketch Books, relating to a commission for Robert Peel in 1786.1
1 This illustration is reproduced in Susan E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, vol I, Woodbridge, 2009, p.181, pl.147.
Additional Notices & Disclaimers
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
Classic Design: Furniture, Clocks, Silver & Ceramics
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United Kingdom
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