An important George II gilt-lead-mounted and verre églomisé-mounted parcel-gilt walnut side chair possibly by Thomas How Circa 1728

With shaped crest rail and serpentine stiles enclosing a verre églomisé splat depicting the coat of arms of the Earl of Scarsdale in a stamped metal frame and enclosed by paper scroll sides above a compass seat with molded apron centering a cast lead florette on tapering cylindrical legs at front with gilt-metal amorini mounts at the knees terminating in banded pad feet at front, tapering square banded legs terminating in pad feet at back.

Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale, for Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Derbyshire
French & Co. (Before 1960)
The late Forrest Knowles
Hyde Park Antiques, Ltd., New York, January 29, 1986

Fair condition; old repaired breaks to the cresting rail at joins with stiles; minor patches to the veneers of splat at joins, some old repaired breaks to the splat; the verre eglomise panel with vertical cracks and some in-painting; seat with two later corner blocks to the back corners; back legs appear to be spliced; the under apron with some restorations; old worm damage to the veneers of the seat rail; later drop-in seat; usual old marks and scratches and with an uneven surface; would benefit from sympathetic restoration.
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.

This chair belongs to a famous suite of seat furniture made for the 4^th Earl of Scarsdale possibly by Thomas Howe (fl. 1710-33) for Sutton Scarsdale, Derbyshire, circa 1728.  The rebuilding of Sutton Scarsdale began in 1724 and it was completed by 1728.  How’s name appears on the discovery of a lead plaque reported in Country Life, February 15, 1919, p. 171 which included the names of the architect and fifteen principal builders, carvers, and other craftsmen involved in the creation of Sutton Scarsdale, How being the only furniture maker on the list.  Another one of How’s commissions included a large group of furnishings costing £830 which he supplied  to the 5^th Earl of Salisbury at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire including a state bed, which cost £289 as well as richly upholstered seat furniture for the waiting room, the green damask room, the dining room and the red as well as two additional beds . (Beard and Gilbert, op. cit. p. 453)
While the Sutton Scarsdale papers do not survive and the house is now a shell, one reference to the suite does survive in The Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill (Ed. Ralph Nevill), 1906, pp. 228-30 where she describes ‘an old house in an eastern county,’ containing ‘twelve chairs and a settee with a triple back of the most extraordinary design, but all in a terrible state of preservation.  They were somewhat of a Queen Anne period pattern, yet distinguished by several very unusual features, having ormolu mounts, with the front legs terminating in hoofs of gilt metal.  A flat piece of wood in the centre of each back had a medallion covered  with glass, on which was painted the arms, crest, coronet, and supporters of the Earl of Scarsdale.  These chairs and settees… afterwards changed hands more than once, and recently, I believe, passed into the possession of an American collector at no less a figure than £2,000.’ (Gilbert, op. cit., p. 581).

It appears that there were originally twelve chairs, two settees and a pair of pedestals in this suite, four chairs being destroyed by fire at the Brussels International Exhibition of 1910 where they were being exhibited in a period room by the Antiques firm of White, Allom & Co. of 15 George Street, London.  Part of the suite sustained further damage by fire at the 5^th Avenue apartment of Mrs. Annie C. Kane in 1921. (Gilbert, op. cit. p. 582)  Of the chairs known, two are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; another two chairs are in the Frick Collection, New York; one chair is in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum collection, New York, and two chairs are in the collection of Temple Newsam House, Leeds.  It appears that this chair therefore is probably the last remaining chair of this suite in private hands.

References:

Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986

Geoffrey Beard and Judith Goodison, English Furniture, 1500-1840,Oxford, 1987 (illustrated p. 47; sold at Christie’s, New York, January 30, 1982, lot 172; previously sold at the Plaza Art Galleries, New York, December 8, 1977; previously in the collection of Annie C. Kane; previously with White, Allom & Co.; and now at Temple Newsam House)

Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740, Woodbridge, 2009, (illustrated p. 177, plate 4:66, now at Temple Newsam House)

Christopher Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1998, vol. III (illustrated color plate 6 and no. 696, p. 581.)

Yvonne Hackenbroch, English Furniture with some Furniture of Other Countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, Cambridge, MA, 1958 (illustrated plates. 64-65, figs. 87, 88, p. 21-22; this pair was formerly in the collection of John Inness Kane, New York and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

William Rieder, ‘Eighteenth-Century Chairs in the Untermyer Collection’, Apollo, March, 1978, pp. 181-85