A Set of Ten William and Mary Revival Walnut Dining Chairs, First Half 19th Century

Christie's London, 11 November 1999, lot 85

A pair of identical chairs, possibly from the same set and reputedly from Hamilton Palace, Scotland, is at Temple Newsam House, Leeds (Christopher Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, London 1978, Vol. II no. 546, one illustrated p. 424).

Tall back walnut side chairs with pierced splats and curved legs joined by a scroll stretcher are often referred to as 'Marot' chairs, after King William III's architect and designer Daniel Marot (1661–1752), a Paris-born Huguenot who emigrated to Holland and accompanied the King to England after 1688. Marot is credited with introducing the Louis XIV style into both Holland and England, and the scrolls and pierced foliate strapwork of these chairs are similar to his engraved ornamental designs. Such chairs were a specialty of contemporary Dutch joiners, and an important numbered set of eighteen from the Sir James Horlick Collection is now at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire (National Trust). The model also became popular in the first half of the 19th century with the renewal of Antiquarian interest in the pre-Georgian era.