拍品专文
Designed in the Louis XVI style, these chairs relate in form and detailing to a pair supplied by Delabriere for the Boudoir at Southill, home of Samuel Whitbread, which are listed in the 1816 inventory as a pair of 'Round Seat Chairs with painted Tablet backs' (F. Collard, Regency Furniture, 1985, p. 36).
The chairs form part of a larger suite consisting of at least twelve side chairs, two armchairs, a footstool, a circular table and a writing table. Lord Leverhulme bought the entire suite from Moss Harris on 22 July 1914 along with five unrelated pieces of bluejohn. He paid £650 for the whole group.
The Leverhulme catalogue notes that the chairs are from Slindon Hall in Arundel, Sussex. Slindon Hall was the seat of the Kemp family in the early 18th century. Barbara Kemp (d. 1797), eventual sole heiress of Anthony Kemp, married James, 4th Earl of Newburgh (d. 1787) in 1749. Since the early 19th century, the Earls of Newburgh have been Italian and Slindon was sold and rebuilt in the early 20th century.
Henry Holland, who was employed by Whitbread to remodel the house and its interiors, had also worked with Delabriere for the Prince Regent at Carlton House. As principal designer, he most likely provided the design for these chairs (although only two Southill furniture designs survive in his sketchbook). Similar chairs executed in the French manner appear in Thomas Sheraton's 'The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book' of 1793. A pattern for a Drawing Room chair (plate VI) is covered in 'printed chintz' in the manner of French tapestry and comparable to the present needlework coverings.
On the first day of the celebrated Leverhulme sale in 1926, the chairs and footstool were lots 188-191 and the writing-table lot 140. Four chairs from the set were sold from Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. on behalf of Harvard University, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 October 1972, lot 170. It is conceivable that they were acquired for Dumbarton by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss from the 1926 Leverhulme sale following their purchase of the home in 1920. These same four chairs were subsequently sold at auction at Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1974 and later by Christie's London, 15 November 1990, lot 56 and subsequently, 16 November 1995, lot 356. A further pair was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 19-20 January 1996, lot 305, and another pair also in these Rooms, 18 October 2005, lot 499, ($18 000).The circular table inset with two Neopolitan gouaches was sold from the collection of the late Sir Michael Sobell, Christie's London, 23 June 1994, lot 76. The writing-table was sold in these Rooms, 14-15 October 1994, lot 281.
The chairs form part of a larger suite consisting of at least twelve side chairs, two armchairs, a footstool, a circular table and a writing table. Lord Leverhulme bought the entire suite from Moss Harris on 22 July 1914 along with five unrelated pieces of bluejohn. He paid £650 for the whole group.
The Leverhulme catalogue notes that the chairs are from Slindon Hall in Arundel, Sussex. Slindon Hall was the seat of the Kemp family in the early 18th century. Barbara Kemp (d. 1797), eventual sole heiress of Anthony Kemp, married James, 4th Earl of Newburgh (d. 1787) in 1749. Since the early 19th century, the Earls of Newburgh have been Italian and Slindon was sold and rebuilt in the early 20th century.
Henry Holland, who was employed by Whitbread to remodel the house and its interiors, had also worked with Delabriere for the Prince Regent at Carlton House. As principal designer, he most likely provided the design for these chairs (although only two Southill furniture designs survive in his sketchbook). Similar chairs executed in the French manner appear in Thomas Sheraton's 'The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book' of 1793. A pattern for a Drawing Room chair (plate VI) is covered in 'printed chintz' in the manner of French tapestry and comparable to the present needlework coverings.
On the first day of the celebrated Leverhulme sale in 1926, the chairs and footstool were lots 188-191 and the writing-table lot 140. Four chairs from the set were sold from Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. on behalf of Harvard University, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 October 1972, lot 170. It is conceivable that they were acquired for Dumbarton by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss from the 1926 Leverhulme sale following their purchase of the home in 1920. These same four chairs were subsequently sold at auction at Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1974 and later by Christie's London, 15 November 1990, lot 56 and subsequently, 16 November 1995, lot 356. A further pair was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 19-20 January 1996, lot 305, and another pair also in these Rooms, 18 October 2005, lot 499, ($18 000).The circular table inset with two Neopolitan gouaches was sold from the collection of the late Sir Michael Sobell, Christie's London, 23 June 1994, lot 76. The writing-table was sold in these Rooms, 14-15 October 1994, lot 281.