Property from the Curwen collections at Workington Hall, Ewanrigg Hall and Belle Isle, Cumbria
A set of six George II carved mahogany side chairs, probably Lancashire, third quarter 18th century, possibly by Robert Gillow & Son
Lot Closed
January 20, 02:44 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 9,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Curwen collections at Workington Hall, Ewanrigg Hall and Belle Isle, Cumbria
A set of six George II carved mahogany side chairs
probably Lancashire, third quarter 18th century, possibly by Robert Gillow & Son
the pierced interlaced splats headed with rocailles carved top rails, the drop in seats with later silk damask upholstery above a moulded seat rail with a c-scroll and rocaille carved pierced apron, on acanthus carved cabriole legs with pierced claw and ball feet
Thence by descent.
Inventory of the contents of Workington Hall, made by Messrs J R Mitchell and Sons, auctioneers & valuers of Cockermouth, 21 August 1931, probably from the 'Eight Chippendale Ordinary Chairs with Claw and Ball Feet' and 'Two Chippendale Ordinary Chairs with Claw feet at front and carved knees' listed in the Saloon & Library respectively, pp. 16 & 18 (Cumbria Archives, DCU/1/217);
Copy of inventory of the furniture, pictures, silver, E.P.N.S. ware, Sheffield plate and china, the property of Mrs Isabel M Chance, Homeacres, Carlisle. By Telford & Scott, auctioneers & valuers, Carlisle, December 1949, possibly from the '8 Chippendale Carved Walnut Single Chairs with claw and ball feet to front supports and loose padded seats' (Cumbria Archives DCU/1/253).
This remarkable set of chairs - with their interlaced splats, boldly scrolled aprons, sinuous legs and pierced claw & ball feet - are a wonderful mix of provincial manufacture with the latest metropolitan designs of the mid-18th century. The distinctive profile of one chair can be seen in an atmospheric photograph of the Saloon at Workington Hall in the early 20th century, brimming with Victorian clutter. The chairs are probably those listed in the dining room in 1788 at the time of Henry Curwen's (1730-1778) death - en suite with the two smoking chairs at lot 65 - and given the Curwen family’s long association with Gillows, were possibly supplied by Robert Gillow (c.1703-1772), the patriarch of the eponymously named firm of Lancastrian cabinet-maker’s. The interlaced splats certainly share similarities with designs for a splat-back settee (1761) supplied to Dowker of Kendal, Westmoreland and a smoking chair (1787) both of which are illustrated in Gillows’ Estimate Sketch Book (see Lindsay Boyton, Gillow Furniture Design, 1760-1800, Bloomfield Press, 1995, p. 175, fig. 243 & 244). However, few documented examples of Gillow seat furniture exist from the 1750s and 60s making comparison to other works difficult and which is not helped by a lacuna in the Waste Book records between 1754 and 1771.
Henry Curwen (1730-1778) certainly had the means and inclination to commission furniture of this calibre. A Member of Parliament for Cumberland, Henry developed considerable coastal coalfields at Workington and Harrington where he also owned shares in several ships trading from these ports. These interests yielded considerable funds and by the time he died in 1778 the collieries generated an annual profit of £5,000. Henry was keen to improve the medieval fortified manor house that was Workington Hall and enlisted the services of the architect John Carr of York. His untimely death meant little was achieved in his lifetime and the project was brought to completion by his nephew, John Christian Curwen who inherited the estate through marriage to his daughter, Isabella.