A pair of mahogany library armchairs one George II, circa 1755, attributed to Paul Saunders, the other a modern copy

the arched padded back with a recessed scroll and leaf-carved conforming top-rail and tapering uprights, with padded arms on downswept leaf-carved  suppports and a later sprung serpentine seat, scroll and leaf-carved front and rails, on leaf-carved cabriole legs

The George II chair almost certainly that sold Christie's, London, 28 May 1964,  Fine English Furniture, lot 105, a chair without provenance. 

Comparative Literature: Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee, Prime Antiques and Their Current Prices, 1947, p. 126, Parke-Bernet, no. 57, from Cecil Partridge, London, one similar armchair.

The Eleventh Antique Dealer's Fair and Exhibition, Grosvenor House, London, June 6 – 21, 1951, exhibited by Hotspur Ltd., London, Stand 62, Catalogue p. 53, one similar armchair.

Margaret Jourdain and F. Rose, English Furniture The Georgian Period (1750-1830), 1953, p. 82, fig 44, one similar armchair of a set of five at Petworth House, Sussex.

Margaret Macdonald-Taylor, English Furniture, 1965, p. 106, a closely related chair, the upholstered back with a shaped carved crest-rail and sides.

Anthony Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, fig. 184, the property of W. Waddingham, one similar armchair.

Christie's, London November 27, 2003, lot 100, a Pair of Mahogany and Parcel-Gilt Open Armchairs, from the Collection of the late Mrs. Barbara Campbell Golding, and possibly from a suite of eight armchairs and two sofas with Phillips of Hitchin in 1948.

These chairs are both in good general condition.The upholstery is worn on both and will need to be replaced. The period chair has a small crack on the left hand arm which has also been repaired. The rear right hand leg has been repaired and has a small visible plug. All of the feet have been hollowed out to take castors which have now been removed and the void filled. All feet have some losses and repairs. One spandrel is missing from the front-rail. The later copy has some age cracks to the front rail at the top of the left hand leg. The back feet are rather chipped.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Originally made to be placed in a large drawing room or gallery, these chairs are of a design described in contemporary pattern books such as the Director of Thomas Chippendale and Mayhew and Ince's Universal System as 'French Chairs'. They are part of a group of similarly conceived chairs with closely related cabochon-carved and foliate and C-scroll-ornamented frames with acanthus-wrapped scrolled toes and, in particular, fluted legs and arm supports. An almost identical chair of the same model, although lacking the carved seat rails, is in the collection at Petworth House, Sussex, and a suite of six arm chairs and two sofas, which was originally commissioned from an unknown maker by Peregrine Bertie, 3^rd Duke of Ancaster for Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, more ambitious in their design, but with similarly fluted legs and related carved detail (See: Yvonne Hackenbroch, English Furniture – The Irwin Untermyer Collection, 1958, pl. 116, fig. 143).

Although lacking the carved flutes and with differences to the carved detail, a remarkably similar armchair, part of a suite which includes '10 Elbow chairs' and '2 large sophas ditto' is at Holkham, Norfolk (See: Anthony Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, p. 211, fig. 378.). This was originally commissioned by Thomas Coke, Ist Earl of Leicester from Paul Saunders in 1757 and its similarity to the present lot allows an attribution to be made to the same maker. Although not fully identified as yet in the Holkam accounts, a set of nine single chairs in the same collection has also been attributed to him due to the similarities of the carving and the fluted detail on the legs as in the present example (Coleridge, op. cit., fig. 379).

Paul Saunders (b.1722-d.1771) was a noted upholsterer supplying major London and country house clients in the 1750s and 1760s, his early commissions including Holderness House, London, Petworth House, Sussex and Stowe, Buckinghamshire. He was first apprenticed to the upholsterer Michael Bradshaw in 1738 who was probably related to William and George Smith Bradshaw with whom he became partner after 1750. This partnership was dissolved in 1756, Saunders retaining the part of the workshop situated in Sutton Street near Soho Square. In 1757 he was appointed 'Tapestry Maker to the King' receiving in 1761 the additional position of as 'Yeoman Tapestry Taylor' in the Great Wardrobe, retaining both positions until his death in 1771.