About This Object
A fine set of six mahogany dining chairs of the Regency period, in the manner of William Marsh and Thomas Tatham, the cabinet-makers to the Prince of Wales, later King George IV.
England, circa 1815.
Why we like them
We love the architectural quality of these superb dining chairs, which are unusually large for the period. Their old, beautifully aged and cracked leather looks marvellous on the well-patinated mahogany frames, embellished in Classical fashion.
Their boldly scrolled book-matched veneered backs, supported on Corinthian capitals and the acroteria-topped legs drew inspiration from the classical antiquity, promoted by the royal architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (d. 1842).
Attribution
The distinctive form of the front legs of these chairs, tapered and Grecian-fluted after the Pompeian fashion can be seen on a magnificant desk supplied to Henry Baring, Esq. (1776-1848) for Somerley, Hampshire around 1811, sold Christie's, London, 6 July 2000, Lot 50.
The robust, architectural form of these chairs, with its symbolic reliefs epitomise the 'antique' fashion, combining Egyptian, Grecian and Roman elements, that was being promoted by the connoisseur Thomas Hope in the decoration of his London mansion. It also relates to the Empire style of C. Percier and P.F.L. Fontaine's Recueil de décorations intérieures, 1801.
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