A set of five early George III Irish mahogany dining chairs, circa 1760, together with a later copy

These richly carved chairs relate to a design by Robert Manwaring illustrated in TheCabinet and Chair-Maker's Real Friend & Companion (1765),¹ and also draw on a design for a ‘Gothick Chair’ by Thomas Chippendale on plate XXV of the first edition of The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director (1754).² Although primarily of 'Gothick' design, these chairs have also absorbed the decorative vocabulary of the parallel ‘chinoiserie’ style, particular in the pagoda form of its top rail. The chinoiserie style was first popularised by Sir William Chambers in Designs of Chinese Buildings published in 1757 after his return from Canton. Here he published two drawings of chairs, the backs being filled with lattice-work or 'Chinese railing'.

A chair of strikingly similar design to the present lot in numerous aspects is illustrated in TheDictionary of English Furniture,³ which at the time of publication was in the collection of the late Lieutenant-Colonel S. Goldschmidt. They are also similar to a previous set of fourteen sold at Replica Shoes ’s London on 5^th June 2007, lot 132, though the armrests on that set have an intriguingly rococo fluidity.

The collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum also holds two examples of closely related chairs with lattice backs: accession number LOAN:LADYLEVER.1-2012, attributed to William and John Linnell, and 559-1901, formerly at Carclew House. An additional set of chairs of comparable design can be seen in the collection at Godinton Park, Kent, illustrated Country Life, December 20, 1962, pp. 1601, 1603.

¹ R. Manwaring, The Cabinet and Chair-Maker’s Real Friend & Companion, 1765 [1935 reprint], pl.13

² T. Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, 1754 [2005 reprint], pl.XXII

³ P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol I, 1924-7, p. 286, fig. 192