A wonderfully decorative set of six 'green-japanned' chairs.

English, circa 1790's

Why we like them

Their delicate and unusual shape, with boldly splayed back legs and intricate backs, alluding to 'The Sun King' Louis XIV, together with the rare, supmtuous green 'japanning', emblematic of the early neoclassical era in English interior design, make these superbly decorative chairs very attractive and desirable.

This model with its distinct sunburst-backs is very similar to a set of chairs photographed by Edwin Smith in ‘The Balcony Room’ at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, in 1971. In 1774, Thomas Chippendale supplied 'green and white japanned' ‘Star back’ chairs for Paxton House, Scotland (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, p. 271 and fig. 164). Henry Hill of Marlborough also used a similar pattern for chairs supplied to Thomas Mansel at Penrice Castle, Glamorgan, in 1778 (illustrated Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Volume II, Singapore, 2008, p. 628, fig. 394). Although displaying similarities with a number of other fine examples, a firm attribution for this pattern remains elusive and requires further research.

A set of twelve mahogany dining-chairs with virtually identical backs, formerly in the collection of the Earl of Plymouth, were sold Christie's, London, 17 May 2017, lot 91 (£100,000). Other closely related sets of mahogany chairs include: a set of twelve chairs, in 1926, at Stonehurst, Ardingly, Sussex, and subsequently in the collection of Nigel Lawson, M.P., sold Sotheby’s, London, 30 May 1975, lot 83; a pair of armchairs, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 13 October 1990, lot 254, and a single armchair sold Christie’s, New York, 22 October 1998, lot 101. A pair of cream and blue-japanned armchairs of the same pattern was sold anonymously Christie’s, New York, 30 April 1997, lot 49.