This window seat and matching pair of armchairs (lot 178) may well have originated at Rufford Hall which was built by SirThomas Hesketh, 1st Bt. (1728-1778) and enlarged by his brother Sir Robert Hesketh, 2nd Bt. (1729-1796) and his grandson Sir Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh, 3rd Bt. (1779-1844). The latter employed a local architect John Foster working in conjunction with James Wyatt to further enlarge the property in 1798. It is highly likely that he would have employed the Lancaster firm of Gillows to supply furniture. It is no surprise therefore that the design of the sides of this seat with their swagged splats closely relate to a drawing for a dining chair, circa 1790 by Gillow illustrated in Lindsay Boynton (ed.), Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, 1995, pl. 282.
 

Easton Neston Inventory 1923, p.20, item 3, £400, a 'Sheraton bench, settee and four chairs' as part of the 'Contents of all other remaining rooms and bedrooms';
AP 1927, p.31, item 3, £200, 'Furniture in Various Reception Rooms';
Country Life, 'Easton Neston', 27 August 1927, p. 299, fig. 6,  illustrated in the First Floor Gallery
John Kenworthy-Browne, 'Easton Neston, Northamptonshire: I', Connoisseur, September-December 1964, p.79, fig.16, The Great Gallery
James Lees-Milne, 'Easton Neston, Northamptonshire', English Country Houses Baroque 1685-1715, 1970, p.146, fig. 233, situated in the Gallery