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A GEORGE II CORNER CHAIR

england , circa 1755

An exceptional George II carved mahogany elbow chair of outstanding quality. The curved crest rail of the back carved with ruffled drapery tied with flower heads on a diapered ground and continuing to flat curved arms similarly decorated with panels of diaper pattern and foliate ornamented rounded terminals with downcurved gothic blind fret ornamented supports, the splats of interlaced arched pierced gothic tracery, the upholstered seat with gothic blind fret ornamented conforming seat rails, the similarly ornamented legs with guttae feet and pierced corner spandrels.

The seat now upholstered with a superb panel of French mid 18th century needlepoint.

Provenance

Probably the Lords Maynard, Easton Lodge, Dunmow

The pair to this armchair was in the personal collection of the celebrated dealer Ronald Lee, and subsequently sold Sothebys London, The Ronald A. Lee Collection, 28 November 2001, lot 195. This chair was in a collection in the USA before being handled by Ronald Phillips Ltd., and currently listed in the Notable Sales section of their website.

Ronald Lee lived at the Manor House, Byfleet - a house made famous as the home of the Lady Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey.

Stock number

U01.04
Height: 31¹/₂ in (80 cm)
Width: 28³/₄ in (73 cm)
Depth: 22⁷/₈ in (58 cm)
With excellent colour and patina, this superbly carved chair epitomises the style of the period between 1745 and 1765 with the mixture of Gothic and Chinese ornamentation.

A set of four closely related armchairs open armchairs, although much less sophtisticated in their construction and design, likely part of the same original commission, were photographed in situ in 1905 in the Billiard Room of Easton Lodge, Essex.

Easton Lodge, home of the Lord Viscounts Maynard, an enormous house near Dunmow in Essex, was part of a large estate dating back to Tudor times. In 1590, the land was granted to the Maynard family. In 1847 a disasterous fire broke out destroying almost all of the Elizabethan parts of the building. Fortunately, no lives were lost and the extensive collections of fine paintings, books and furniture was salvaged. The house was rebuilt in the Victorian gothic style to the designs of Thomas Hopper.  In 1865, Easton Lodge was inherited by 3 year old Frances 'Daisy' Maynard, who went on to marry Lord Brooke, later Earl of Warwick. Another fire struck in 1918 and there was a subsequent further re-building. The Countess' finances were by this time in a downwards sprial and the estate was sold in 1919. Hampton & Sons held a three days sale in September 1943 of the Property of the late Frances Evelyn, Countess of Warwick removed from Easton Lodge, Dunmore. Interestingly, the first known appearance on the open market of the set of four armchairs was with Symons Galleries Inc., New York in 1959.


 
Ronald Phillips, Great English Furniture, 2020, p. 68-69 (for the pair)
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