A shield-back armchair George III, circa 1780

Shield-shaped chairs were another idea popularised by Hepplewhite's Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Guide.  Lyre backs, evoking the Roman god of music Apollo, first appeared in English furniture in the late 1760s, in houses being remodelled by the architect Robert Adam. Under Adam's direction, John Linnell supplied lyre-back chairs to Osterley Park, Middlesex in 1767.  The same year Thomas Chippendale supplied a set to Nostell Priory, Yorkshire.  

A pair of chairs similar to the present lot was sold Sotheby's London, 20 February 1987 lot 95 (£15,000).  Another similar chair is illustrated in H. Cescinsky, English Furniture from Gothic to Sheraton, 1937, p.343.  A related chair is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated in M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London 1972, p.130.