Lot 67
  • 67

A SET OF EIGHTEEN GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS, CIRCA 1775, ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS AFTER A DESIGN BY JAMES WYATT |

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 GBP
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Description

comprising of two armchairs and sixteen side chairs, the interlaced backs with leafy top rails and oval paterae and plumes, the stuffed seats covered in later close-nail red leather, the fluted rails on fluted turned tapering front legs with water leaf incised capitals and patera carved headers

Provenance

Possibly supplied to Sir Thomas Hesketh, 1st Bt. (1728-1778) or Sir Robert Hesketh, 2nd Bt. (1729-1796) for Rufford New Hall, Lancashire;
Thence by descent in the family.

Exhibited

On loan to Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, 2011-2019

Literature

J. Kenworthy-Browne, 'Easton Neston, Northamptonshire: 1', The Connoisseur, September-December, 1964, p. 72, fig. 2 (part illustrated in the Saloon, then called the Dining Room);
J. M. Robinson, James Wyatt, Architect to George III, Italy, 2012, p. 142. RELATED LITERATURE

S. E. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Volume I, China, 2008, pp. 158-159.

Condition

An impressive and large run of 'Wyatt pattern' dining chairs in overall reasonable conserved condition. Overall: Mahogany chairs with oak rails with corner batons and all re-glued with modern PVA adhesive. All chairs have later upholstery. Shrinkage splits and later repairs to all lower tapering sections on splats of all chairs. Scuffs and losses observed to mahogany fluted seat rails around rosettes. Mouldings on bottom edge of fluted seat rails are worn on all chairs. Witness marks observed where astrical moulding was originally extended to the side of back legs. Scuffs and wear to all front feet. All chairs have a later shellac surface on backs which contains an analine-based dye. This dye is non-colour fast and has faded to a green/black colour. Individual chairs (listed as per the accession number when loaned to Kedleston Hall and affixed to undeside): - Chair 107908.1 There is a replacement plume to Prince of Wales feather at cresting rail (lower proper left). Central moulding above the shoe is repaired. - Chair 107908.2 Losses noted to oak upholstery seat rails. - Chair 107908.3 Later gluing of oak bracings to seat rail. - Chair 107908.4 Splits to oak seat rails. The shoe has a replacement bead moulding. - Chair 107908.5 The oak seat rails have splits and losses with later screws in seat rail bracings. - Chair 107908.6 The bead moulding in top half of shoe is missing. - Chair 107908.7 There is a replacement plume on Prince of Wales feather at cresting rail (bottom proper left). Large split to oak seat rail. - Chair 107908.8 Missing plum on Prince of Wales feather (top proper right). Replacement plums observed on bottom left and right. - Chair 107908.9 The astrical moulding on the front seat rail is replaced. Sections of rosette are missing on front seat rail (proper right). Break to cresting rail due to shrinkage. - Chair 107908.10 The astrical moulding on the front seat rail is missing. Losses to shoe. - Chair 107908.11 Losses to shoe. - Chair 107908.12 There is a large split in the cresting rail. Splits in oak seat rails. - Chair 107908.13 The bead moulding on the shoe has been re-glued. - Chair 107908.14 There are repairs to the fluted seat rail (proper right). The arms have been re-glued and re-secured with later screws. The bottom plume of Prince of Wales feather is replaced (proper left). The front astrical on seat rail is loose. - Chair 107908.15 No additional damage. - Chair 107908.16 There are losses to rosette on seat rail (front proper right). - Chair 107908.17 Bottom plume Prince of Wales feather at cresting rail is replaced (proper left). - Chair 107908.18 There is damage to lower Prince of Wales feather above shoe, 2 plumes replaced (lower and upper proper left). Also replacements to bead moulding on shoe.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This remarkable set of chairs combine the sophisticated and elegant designs of James Wyatt (d. 1813), a pre-eminent neo-classical architect of the 18th century, with the superb craftsmanship and quality of one of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most celebrated workshops, that of Gillows of Lancaster and London. Rarely in English furniture of this date is it wholly possible to determine the designer and maker and fully acknowledge the partnership between architect/designer and cabinet-maker.

THE DESIGN The design for these chairs was discovered in an album of drawings by James Wyatt in the collection of the Vicomte de Noailles in Paris (fig. 1). The discovery of the design reinforces the link between these chairs and others of this design. The earliest documented example of this model, indeed they are the earliest examples of Wyatt designed furniture, were supplied by Gillows in July 1774 to Sir Thomas Egerton for the Dining Room at Heaton Hall, Lancashire. The firm supplied '16 Elegant mahogany chairs with carv'd back rails and legs' with two 'carv'd elbows' to match (Robinson, op. cit., p. 140). The set are listed at Heaton Hall in 1897 and were subsequently sold at the beginning of the 20th century.

Wyatt's inspiration for the interlaced hoop-back on these chairs and other related designs is not known but it is possibly derived from a printed design that was re-issued in 1766 by the print seller Robert Sayer from an original published in 1753 in Six New Designs of Chairs (see: C. Gilbert, 'Smith, Manwaring, Sayer and a newly discovered set of designs', Furniture History, 1993, pp. 129-133). Robinson notes the 'rounded backs with segmental lines related to the apsed dining room at Heaton' as would be expected of an architect-designer adept at incorporating classical architectural ornament into his creations. 

What is known is the design became referred to as the 'Wyatt Pattern' in Gillows' Petty Ledger and the design is well documented in the Gillows archive as being by Wyatt. It was described as their ‘best’ chair and no other chair the firm produced in the 1770s cost as much as the ‘Wyatt Pattern’ chair.

Other examples include those most probably supplied to John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield (d.1821), for Sheffield Park, Sussex, a house in which Wyatt worked extensively in the 1770s. In October 1775 sixteen chairs in this design were supplied to Richard Pennant at Winnington Hall, Cheshire – a house associated with James and Samuel Wyatt – although the chair was on occasion supplied to houses to which the Wyatt’s had no involvement, showing Gillows were making the chairs independently for their own clients. In July 1774, ‘6 mahogany chairs new pattern Wiats [sic]’ are listed in the order books and in April 1775 there is reference to ‘another 66 chairs new pattern like Sir T. Eg[erton]’ (Robinson, op. cit., p. 142).

In addition to these and the aforementioned sets of chairs of this model, there are a small number of sets which also follow the Wyatt design and share the same idiosyncratic oak seat-rail construction. This construction is identical to that of a set of Gothic chairs exactly following a Gillows pattern and probably made by the firm in the early 1780s. The two sets of chairs share oak inner seat-rails but most importantly also the highly idiosyncratic flat angle struts. The Gillows Gothic set are now in Soho House, Birmingham (see: Susan Stuart, 'Three Generations of Gothic Chairs', Furniture History, 1996, pp. 33-8).

RUFFORD NEW HALL, LANCASHIRE

Although the present set of eighteen chairs, the largest known run of this model, are not listed in the few surviving 20th century inventories of Easton Neston, it is more likely they were supplied to Rufford New Hall, Lancashire. Sir Thomas Hesketh, 1st Bt. (1728-1778) built a new compact classical house at Rufford which was improved by his brother Sir Robert (1729-1796) and subsequently his American-born grandson and heir, Sir Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh (1777-1842) who employed local architect John Foster, working under the guidance of James Wyatt.