A GEORGE II MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR ATTRIBUTED TO THE ST MARTIN'S LANE SYNDICATE, CIRCA 1750

Joseph E. Widener, Philadelphia

St James's Gallery, New York

Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, The Walter P. Chrysler Jr. Collection of English Furniture, Part One, 29-39 April 1960, lot 122

Stair & Company, New York

Sotheby's New York, 13 December 1986, lot 204

H. Cescinsky and G.L. Hunter, English and American Furniture (Grand Rapids 1929)

A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture (London 1928)

R.W. Symonds, The Present State of Old English Furniture (London 1921), fig.82

R.W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II (London 1929), p.175, fig.169

Louvre, Paris, 1954 (according to the 1960 auction catalogue)

The distinctive carving of the front legs of this magnificent chair is identical to that on a pair of library armchairs supplied in the mid-18th century to John, 2nd Earl Poulett (d.1764) at Hinton House, Hinton St George, Somerset (sold Christie's New York, 16 October 1998, lot 333). This pair formed part of a larger suite very similar to a set of chairs supplied by William Vile (d.1767) and John Cobb (d.1778) to Anthony Chute at the Vyne, Hampshire in 1753 (illustrated Coleridge, fig.27). Vile and Cobb, who later became Royal Cabinetmakers to King George III, formed a syndicate with William Hallett (d.1781) in 1753 and were based in St Martin's Lane, the nexus of the mid-18th century London furniture trade where among others Thomas Chippendale and Mathias Locke were also based. Vile had been Hallett's apprentice and both were born in Somerset only a few miles away from Hinton St George, so it is likely they would have participated in the refurbishment of Hinton House through their local connections.

The offered lot is likely to have formed part of a larger suite, as an identical pair was in the Percival D. Griffiths Collection (one illustrated in Symonds, 1921 and 1929). Another example, probably in an American collection in the early 20^th century, is illustrated in Cescinsky and Hunter, p.123, and a side chair of identical design is currently on the London art market. A further pair with identical arms and legs but upholstered high backs is in the Alfred Du Pont Collection at Nemours Mansion, Wilmington, Delaware. The offered lot is likely to have formed part of a larger suite, as an identical pair was in the Percival D. Griffiths Collection (one illustrated in Symonds, 1921 and 1929). Another example, probably in an American collection in the early 20^th century, is illustrated in Cescinsky and Hunter, p.123, and a side chair of identical design is currently on the London art market. A further pair with identical arms and legs but upholstered high backs is in the Alfred Du Pont Collection at Nemours Mansion, Wilmington, Delaware.