THE HALSNEAD HALL CHAIRS

A set of twelve George III mahogany hall chairs attributed to Gillows.
Note: The original painted family crest in the centre of each back is that of the Willis family of Halsnead Hall, Lancashire, England.
In 1789, a year before his father Daniel died, Richard Willis engaged the architect Sir John Soane for improvements to the south front of his ancestral home, Halsnead Hall in Lancashire, England. It is very likely that the chairs were ordered at the same time to refurnish the house.
Halsnead Hall and the surrounding estate were passed down through the Willis family until 1929, when the estate was sold. The house was demolished in 1931, and sadly there are no photographic records of the interior.

Literature: John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1852, pp. 1602-3.