An extremely fine and rare pair of 18th century Anglo-Indian ivory-inlaid padouk side chairs circa 1750, Vizagapatam

each chair with a bended back centered by a vase-shaped splat inlaid with foliate scrolls and trailing and pendant flowers, below a shaped crest rail inlaid with foliate scrolls, the serpentine uprights similarly inlaid, the seat inset with a caned panel within a running band of trailing leaves and flowers, the molded edge in engraved ivory, the seat frame with a concave molded border above a shaped apron at each side inlaid with foliate scrolls and trailing flowers, supported on cabriole legs edged with foliate and feathered scrolls and inlaid with trailing garlands of flowers, the claw-and-ball feet inlaid with ivory scales and with ivory claws, and joined by a waved X-form molded stretcher inlaid with trailing flowers and leaves centered by a disk inlaid with a flowerhead.

Possibly the Nawab of Arcot

Acquired in Spain by Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879), as part of a larger suite

Thence by descent to Victor Rothschild, Esq., 148 Piccadilly, London, W1, by whom sold, Sotheby’s, sale on the premises, April 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1937, as part of lot 195 which included six side chairs and two armchairs

With Lennox Money Antiques, London 1973

The property of a gentleman, sold Christie’s, London, July 9, 1998, lot 51

Burlington Magazine, 1934, Dr. Vilhelm Slomann     

Apollo Magazine, 1935, XXII, p. 15-6

Christie’s Magazine, July 1998, Dr. Amin Jaffer, ‘On the Coast of Coromandel’

This superb pair of chairs is from a larger suite of furniture which was acquired in Spain at some time during the 19^th century by Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879). Baron Lionel, the son and heir of Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1778-1836), had acquired by the mid 19^th century a large collection of Flemish Old Master Pictures and French furniture, commissioning the architects Thomas Marsh Nelson and Charles Innes in 1859-1860 to build for him a magnificent Italianate mansion at 148 Piccadilly. Although the precise date that the suite entered his collection is unknown, he is recorded as purchasing other pieces of Indian furniture including two pairs of chairs at the celebrated sale of the Duke of Buckingham’s collection at Stowe in 1848.

The suite originally comprised six side chairs, six armchairs and a large center table which were placed in the Library at 148 Piccadilly. They remained in the library until they were sold by Sotheby’s on behalf of Victor Rothschild, Esq., April 19-22, 1937, as part of the contents of 148 Piccadilly prior to its demolition.

This suite of Indian furniture is probably the most magnificent to have survived from the 18^th century, the only parallel being another suite in veneered ivory now in The Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. Its design is taken from Thomas Chippendale’s Director, and it was commissioned by Alexander Wynch, Governor of Fort George, between 1773-75.

It is possible that it was intended as a somewhat sumptuous diplomatic or princely gift. Another armchair, which has a similar profile to those in this suite, and which has similar ivory inlay and claw-and-ball feet is illustrated by R. W. Symonds in The Connoisseur, XCIV, July-December, 1934, no. XIV, ‘Furniture from the Indies’. The seat of this chair is worked in needlework which states ’This Chair was sent a Present to Lady Harland in the Year 1772 from the Nabob of Arcot when Sir Robert Harland, Bart, was Commander in Chief of His Brittanic Majesty’s Fleet in the East Indies and Plenipotentiary from the King of England to the Nabob of Arcot’. The Nawab of Arcot, as with other Indian Princes, would have had much to gain by presenting lavish gifts.

See:

Mallett, P.L.C., Catalogue, 1999, pp. 44-47, a pair of armchairs from the original suite

Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, 2001