40 x 30 1/4 x 26 1/2 in., height of seat 16 in.

Note: A fine pair of George II Mahogany Hall Armchairs were sold in The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, Christie's NY, May 9, 2018, lot 646 and sold for $52,500 hammer price.

This is the essay which accompanied the chairs in the Christie's catalog: "This pair of hall armchairs relates very closely to a chair illustrated in Michael Harding-Hill, Windsor Chairs, London, 2003, p. 76, and to another similar chair exhibited by Whitney Antiques at the 1997 Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair. Although these chairs share similar constructional characteristics with provincial Windsor chairs, including turned spindles and solid seats, Windsor chairs are associated with more rural areas, such as the Thames Valley, where they would have commonly been fashioned from timbers such as ash, yew and elm. The use of finest mahogany for these grand chairs, coupled with the high quality of construction, suggests that these chairs were likely made by a major London cabinetmaker of the period.

These chairs are similar to a group of armchairs with vase-capped splats which probably formed part of a larger set, one from the Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A., sold Christie's London September 18-19, lot 31 (32,500 GPB) and another sold Christie's London, April 22, 2004, lot 29, (45,410 GPB). These chairs are based on the designs of the Windsor chair and are related to a 1750s patter executed by Richard Hewett at Slough, (see N. Goyne Evans, 'A History and Background of English Windsor Furniture', Furniture History, 1979, pp. 24-53, pl. 84), although he is unlikely their enigmatic maker. A closely related set of fine mahogany armchairs, conceivably by the same maker, line the marble hall at Holkham Hall, the Norfolk seat of the Earls of Leicester. A further pair of related George II mahogany armchairs was sold Sotheby's New York, April 11-12, 1997, lot 751 ($46,000)."

Small repair to the top crest, one spindle replaced. Old repair to the right armrest support with age cracks, staining and scuffing to the seat. Old repairs to the seat on the front corners. Structurally sound, grand in scale. Fine quality.Not withstanding this report or any discussion concerning condition of a lot, all lots are offered and sold "as is" in accordance with our conditions of sale.