A SET OF FOUR GEORGE II MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS, CIRCA 1740

Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire

Christie's London, 15 July 1965, lot 269

The Estate of Esmond Bradley Martin, sold, Sotheby's New York, 30 October 2002, lot 196

Seat of the Leigh family from 1558-1992, Stoneleigh Abbey was built on the site of a former Cistercian monastery. The Tudor house of c.1600 was greatly expanded with the construction of a baroque wing by Francis Smith of Warwick between 1714 and 1726. These chairs were probably acquired by Thomas, 4th Baron Leigh (d.1749), during whose tenure payments for furniture including tables and mirrors were recorded in 1738 to John Pardoe of London and John York (address unrecorded) and in 1740-43 to Humphrey Hands of Warwick.