CIRCA 1745-50

This grand, imposing armchair displays the proficiency and confidence of a skilled maker. The absence of carving to the reverse and the substantial size provides a strong argument that it was made as a ceremonial chair. Examples of such chairs with high quality carving and construction were made for the Inns of the Court, the City Companies and Masonic Lodges (Joy, E. T., 'Some unrecorded Masonic ceremonial chairs of the Georgian period,' Connoisseur, July 1965, Vol. 159, p160-164)‌. Despite the expertise in composition and execution, the makers were often unrecorded. Like the present example, many examples were designed in the high French rococo style, with similar strongly scrolling cabriole legs. They may also have been conceived with symbols of the laws of Freemasonry, as seen on a drawing for a comparable armchair by Matthias Lock (C. Graham, Ceremonial and Commemorative Chairs, V&A, London, 1994, pl. 14, p. 12) designed in the same manner. The scale would suggest this was this was made for a position of high honor, like the Master of a masonic order, possible en suite with similar smaller examples for subordinate positions (Joy, p. 160-164).