These dining chairs were supplied to John Christian Curwen for his family seat, Ewanrigg Hall, and are described in Gillows' Waste Book on the 8 October 1784 as '12 handsome Mahogany chairs upright Splats & arched Tops, Bowed front Rails, as usual, Tapered Legs fluted' and '2 Armed Do'. The total cost of the suite was £27 which included stuffing the seats 'in best manner & covering them with Green Marocco leather'.

The present set are one of the earliest recorded examples of this model, if not the earliest, which for obvious reasons became known as the 'three upright splat chair'. A popular design, it features in a crudely executed drawing in the Journeymen's wage agreement of 1785, and is also illustrated in the Estimate Sketch Book and the Coloured Sketch Book - the coloured illustrations intended for prospective clients - in 1791.