A SET OF EIGHT GEORGE I STAINED PINE HALL CHAIRS CIRCA 1720

Lacking their original japanned or lacquered decoration.

The Late Celia Tobin Clark, removed from House on Hill

Butterfield & Butterfield San Francisco, October 30, 1967

Originally japanned. One seat with a large split; one with reinforcement to top of back right leg; one with small bracket between front rail and underside of seat; one with rather loose back; backs slightly or mildly loose on some chairs; overall with wear, rubbing, chips and nicks to extremities; the backs of some rather rough in places; some seat with repaires to undersides.
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 model of the present hall chairs is nearly identical to two suites of hall chairs made for two men with strong connections to the East India Company, namely Sir Gregory Page, Bt. of Greenwich (1668-1720) who was the director and later chairman of the company and Sir William Heathcote, Bt. (1693-1751), second son of Samuel Heathcote, who was a director of the company.  Both the Heathcote and Page suites have lacquered backs with japanned seats and legs, the assumption being that the backs were made in Canton and shipped to England where the frames were made and japanned.  The present chairs lacking any japanned or lacquer decoration show that the whole chair is made of the same pine wood.  It is possible that the chairs of this form were sent to Canton to be lacquered, or the backs were sent to be lacquered and brought back and assembled in England.  The sending of European made goods to China to be lacquered is well documented and because of the excess cargo space on the journey to China, the freight was relatively inexpensive (Bowett, 2002, op. cit. pp. 147-149).  A pair of the Heathcote chairs most recently sold at Sotheby's London, November 29, 2002, lot 152 (£96,850) and a pair of the Page chairs most recently sold at Christie's London, November 15, 1990, lot 69 (illustrated, Bowett, 2009, op. cit. p. 154, plate 4:16).

Sir William Heathcote retired from business in 1715 after inheriting a fortune estimate at £90,000, which enabled him to acquire Hursley Lodge in 1718, demolishing most of it and rebuilding in 1721-24.

A similar set of hall chairs from Houghton Hall, possibly commissioned by Sir Robert Walpole with gilt-gesso legs and aprons are attributed to James Moore, Royal cabinet-maker to George I (Lennox-Boyd, op. cit. pp. 105-107, 207, no. 30).  It is interesting to note that the firm of Moore's partner John Gumley was working at Hursley Lodge for Sir William Heathcote.  Furthermore, the early appearance of this type of scrolled bracket combined with a broken cabriole leg on a pair of gilt-gesso tables made for Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough at Blenheim where Moore was comptroller, might suggest that it can be associated with his workshop.  Moore and Gumely therefore may be strong candidates for the authorship of the preset set of chairs.

See:

Adam Bowett, English Furniture, 1660-1714, from Charles II to Queen Anne, Woodbridge, 2002

Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740, Woodbridge, 2009

Edward Lennox-Boyd, Masterpieces of English Furniture, The Gerstenfeld Collection, London, 1998