A George III giltwood open armchair, third quarter 18th century, after a design by Gillows 

An East Coast Estate; Christie's, New York, 19 October 2000, lot 228;

Christie's New York, 27th October 2006, lot 129.

F. L. Hinckley, Metropolitan Furniture of the Georgian Years, New York, 1988, p. 147, fig. 234.

This armchair aligns with Gillows’ 1786 design, as documented in L. Boynton, Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Royston, 1995, pl.267. Its features, such as the shield-form back, acanthus-detailed arm support, patera block, and tapering fluted legs, clearly echo the Gillows design. A set of four armchairs, one signed ‘R Gillow’ and numbered 1343, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 April 1999, lot 76, shares these elements.

This chair is unusual in featuring a carved ram's head on the armrests. The ram’s head, a prominent motif in neoclassical design during the late eighteenth century, is derived from the prized animal sacrifices in Ancient Roman culture and is also an attribute of Bacchus. A similar chair from the Irwin Untermyer Collection also has this distinctive characteristic (see Y. Hackenbroch’s book English Furniture with Some Furniture of Other Countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, London, 1958, pl.128 and 130). 

Gillows, established in the 18th century in Lancaster, England, was a celebrated furniture firm renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship and designs. Specializing in high-quality pieces, Gillows crafted furniture that adorned the homes of the British elite and aristocracy such as the Workington Hall and Eaton Hall for the Marquess (later Duke) of Westminster.