A GEORGE II GILTWOOD OPEN ARMCHAIR ATTRIBUTED TO MAYHEW & INCE

The design of the chair follows plate LV of The Universal System for Household Furniture, published in 1762.
This chair was originally part of a larger set, four of which were photographed by Alex Starkey for Country Life magazine at Charleville Castle in Ireland in 1962. The house was empty at the time and Starkey furnished two rooms specially for the photoshoot, using furniture borrowed from nearby Belvedere House, County Westmeath, where two chairs had been previously photographed by Country Life in 1961. Four chairs from the set at Belvedere were sold at auction in 1967.
The same Country Life photograph taken in situ at Belvedere House in 1961 was used in Irish Houses and Castles, published in 1971.
Another chair from the set is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA. A pair of chairs from the set were sold by Frank Partridge Ltd. to a private collection.
A suite of seat furniture of very similar form was formerly at No. 45 Berkeley Square, the London residence of Robert Clive, also known as Clive of India. This suite was moved to Powis Castle in Wales when the London house was sold by the descendants of Sir Robert. Part of the suite is still at Powis today.
Note: The chair has been re-gilt.

Literature: William Ince and John Mayhew, The Universal System for Household Furniture, 1762, pl. LV.
Christie, Manson & Woods, ‘Old English Furniture - Fine Chinese Porcelain and Objects of Art, The Property of Henry Hirsch Esq.’, sale catalogue, 10 June 1931, pp. 24-5, lot 55.
Antique Collector, April 1957, title page; a chair with G. Jetley.
Christie, Manson & Woods, ‘Fine English Furniture’, sale catalogue, 13 February 1975, lot 37, pl. 3.
Connoisseur, June 1976, p. 64; advertisement with Glaisher & Nash.
Partridge Fine Arts Ltd., ‘Summer Exhibition 1989’, catalogue, pp. 38-9.

Illustrated:
Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., ‘Masterpieces of Georgian Furniture and Chinese Porcelain, Property of Robert J. Dunham, New York, USA’, 9 & 10 May 1947, pp. 140-41, lot 370.
Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., ‘The Walter P. Chrysler Collection of English Furniture’, 6 & 7 May 1960, vol. 2, pp. 48–9, lot 372.
Anthony Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, pl. 185.
Desmond Guinness and William Ryan, Irish Houses and Castles, 1971, p. 294.

Provenance

Belvedere House, County Westmeath, Ireland.
Symonds Incorporated, New York, USA.
Robert J. Dunham, New York, USA, until 1947.
Frank Partridge Incorporated, New York, USA.
Walter P. Chrysler, New York, USA, until 1960.
J. J. Wolff, New York, USA.
Mrs. Reuben Trane, USA, until 1964.
The Art Institute of Chicago, USA.