An important pair of George III simulated marble stools, After the Antique, the design after an etching by C.H. Tatham and attributed to Marsh and Tatham Circa 1800

each stool with strongly formed tapered fluted legs headed by detached roundels centered by flower heads and with collared block toes centered by roundels, the seat covered with simulated carved fringed drapery falling in folds at each side; retaining their original decoration, one stool painted to simulate Sienna marble, the other Brèche Grise marble.

Pelham Galleries, London

Acquired from the above, 1996

C. H. Tatham, Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture Drawn from the Originals in Rome and Other Parts of Italy, London, 1799, plate 46 (dated 1798).

John Harris, Regency Furniture Designs from contemporary source books 1803-1826, Tiranti, London, 1961, p. 14,

C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1978, Volume II, pp. 307, 308, item 375.

M. Snodin and John Style, Design and the Decorative Arts Britain 1500-1900, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2001, p. 213, fig. 65

G. Beard and C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pp. 277-279

Pelham Galleries, London, Trade Catalogue, n.d., illustrated

The design for these stools is closely based on a plate illustrating ‘Antique Seats of white marble from the Originals at Rome’ from C.H. Tatham’s Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architectural drawn from the Originals in Rome and Other Parts of Italy, first published in 1799. They differ from this published design in having plain turned roundels at the top of the legs as opposed to flower heads, and plain toes as opposed to panelled ones. Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1784) was an architect who at the age of nineteen was employed in the office of the Henry Holland, the Prince of Wales’s architect. With encouragement and financial help from Holland he left for Italy in 1794 spending time in Rome and Turin as a student of classical architecture. Amongst his friends during this period were Canova, Angelica Kauffman, Sir William Hamilton, and Howard, fifth Earl of Carlisle, whose friendship and patronage contributed to his future success. On his travels he collected a number of antique architectural and decorative fragments on behalf of Henry Holland and these, together with his numerous architectural drawings, are now in the Soane Museum. A number of these drawings, including that for the present stools, were included in his publication of 1799, a second edition appearing in 1803.

Another pair of stools also related to Tatham’s design, which do have the flower head carving at the top of the legs, but with a more rounded paneled toe were formerly in the collection of Sir Richard Neave (d. 1814) of Dagenham Park, Essex. One is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the other at Temple Newsam House, Leeds. As with one of the present stools they retain their original painted finish simulating Brèche Grise marble.

Charles Heathcote Tatham was the brother of Thomas Tatham, one of the principals of the noted Royal Cabinetmakers Marsh and Tatham of Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London. A number of pieces supplied by this firm to the Prince of Wales for Carlton House are either taken directly from one of his designs, such as the carved and gilded Council chairs, or are related to his style such as a set of library bookcases supplied in 1806 (See: Beard and Gilbert op. cit.)