A SET OF TWELVE GEORGE III DINING CHAIRS ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS CHIPPENDALE

A set of twelve George III mahogany dining chairs to a design by Robert Adam and attributed to Thomas Chippendale. The set comprises ten side chairs and two armchairs. The distinctive lyre-back design was first introduced by Robert Adam for the dining chairs at Osterley Park, Isleworth, England, and was first used by Chippendale for the dining chairs at Nostell Priory, Yorkshire, England, and the library chairs at Brockett Hall, Hertfordshire, England. A further undocumented set is at Scampston Hall in Yorkshire.
Chippendale never completely repeated a specific design, and each set of chairs differs slightly.

Literature: Frederick S. Robinson, English Furniture, 1905, pl. CXXI.
Christopher Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, 1978, vol. II, pp. 92-3.
Helena Hayward and Pat Kirkham, William and John Linnell, Eighteenth Century London Furniture Makers, 1980, vol. II, p. 36, fig. 68.
Partridge Fine Arts Ltd., ‘Summer Exhibition 1983’, catalogue, pp. 50-51.
Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Important English Furniture, Decoration, Clocks and Carpets’, sale catalogue, 29 October 1983, lot 112.