A fine George II library armchair attributed to Paul Saunders circa 1755

the inside back seat rail with a printed label PHILLIPS OF HITCHIN and stamped VII. The left rail with penciled inscription Parlour. Formerly fitted with casters.

With Phillips of Hitchin Ltd.

Margaret Jourdain and F. Rose, English Furniture The Georgian Period (1750-1830),1953,  p. 30, fig. 30, one of the original suite

See:

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

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

Christie's, London, 28 May, 1964, lot 19, a chair without provenance, the upholstered back with a shaped carved crest-rail and sides

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 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

Overall good restored condition; previously gilded; the front apron with wear to carving and with later polish; small replaced section to tip of carving of back right side bracket; the feet formerly fitted with casters and now filled in with wood blocks; the left seat rail reinforced with another rail; later corner blocks; traces of gilding to the underside and to the undersides of the armrests; old worm damage to seat rails; overall with some minor old marks, scratches scuffs and bruises.
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 boldly conceived armchair appears to be from the same suite of eight armchairs and two sofas which is recorded as being with Messrs. Phillips of Hitchin 1948 (See: Jourdain and Rose, English Furniture The Georgian Period (1750-1830), two of which were sold at Christie's, London, November 27, 2003, the property of the late Mrs. Barbara Campbell Golding.  These were partly gilded, as was the present chair, traces of which remain on the under-frame, and they were numbered in Roman numerals VII and VIIII, the present lot being similarly numbered VII.

Originally made to be placed in a large drawing room or gallery, the suite is 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.