A Fine Set of Eight Regency Parcel-Gilt and White-Japanned Chairs Designed in the Manner of Henry Holland, and Attributed to Marsh and Tatham circa 1805

with padded backrests and foliate ornamented scrolled uprights, the reeded tapered front legs with foliate collars and gilt-metal-mounted toes; three chairs bearing faint stamp of  T.BRADLEY to rails, one stamped twice.  Overpainted, losses to gilding, later corner blocks.

The Hon. Mrs. Reginald Fellowes
H. Blairman & Sons Ltd, London

Overall good condition but with losses throughout to the later overpainted decoration and gilding; some original gilding and the original gilt-metal feet; all chairs with later corner blocks, all chairs in need of tightening to joints, all chairs with a series of tack holes to inside tops of all rails 1. later gilding, brass feet also gilded, losses to painted decoration 2. front rail indistinctly stamped twice, losses to painted decoration and gilding, age crack to top of right back leg 3. repaired break to bottom of left stile above seat rail, penciled inscription to back of left front leg at back, repaired crack to back rail below upholstery, losses to painted decoration and gilding 4. front rail with XX lightly scratched into inside front rail, losses to painted decoration and gilding 5. losses to painted decoration and gilding 6. top of right stile with chips surrounding roundel, age crack to top of right front leg, losses to painted decoration and gilding 7. front rail indistinctly stamped once, losses to painted decoration and gilding 8. front rail stamped indistinctly, repaired break to back left leg, and now spliced, rear rail now with inset reinforcing panel, repaired break to bottom curve of left stile above left seat rail, losses to painted decoration and gilding.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present set of chairs is closely related both in profile and ornament to a set of armchairs at Southill, Bedfordshire, which was probably ordered by Samuel Whitbread II after the death of his father in 1795. As noted by Dorothy Stroud, the architect Henry Holland's complete remodeling of the interiors of  Southill at this time 'provided him with the opportunity of creating rooms which in their scale, decoration and furnishings show a rational interpretation of classical ideals' (Henry Holland His Life and Architecture, 1966, p. 127).

The maker of these chairs was possibly the firm of Marsh and Tatham of Mount Street, London, which, through various changes in the partnership, is recorded between 1774 and 1840. They were closely associated with the architect Henry Holland both supplying furniture for the Prince of Wales at Carlton House, and also Samuel Whitbread at Southhill. It is possible that the original design for the chairs was the work of Charles Heathcote Tatham, brother of Thomas Tatham, who was an assistant to Henry Holland from 1788. Certainly the style of these chairs and those at Southill is taken from the antique, Tatham's work Etchings of Ancient Ornamental Architecture, published in 1799, clearly influencing the known work of his brother's firm.

See:
A. E, Richardson et al., Southill A Regency House, London, 1951, fig. 46
Dorothy Stroud, Henry Holland, London, 1966
Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1978

The stamp found on three of these chairs is T. BRADLEY, whose address is unrecorded.  The same stamp is found on rosewood chairs with caned seats, circa 1820, in the Victoria and Albert Museum Archives; see The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, p. 98.