Hall chair of carved and turned mahogany; with the stamp of Julius Yacoby, Regent St., London

Hall chair, square seat with rounded corners, back with carved panel of curving leaves below pointed arch, on x-frame legs, square section on rectangular feet, joined by turned stretcher

Lövinson and Yacoby (or Jacoby) had workshops in Berlin and outlets in London and St Petersburg as well as Berlin. The firm also showed at the international exhibitons, including the London International Exhibition of 1862 and the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867.

A table by the firm was illustrated in the 2006 catalogue of H. Blairman & Sons, London (no. 8). The entry records a pair of chairs of a design shown at the 1867 exhibition in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery; the V&A chair; a teapoy offered at Gorringe's saleroom Lewes 9-11 September 2003, lot 1326; a chiar offered at Greenslade Hunt, Taunton, on 30 January 1997, lot 1232; and a desk like one exhibited in London in 1862, sold at Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury 3 October 2000, lot 130.

This chair was one of a pair; the other chair remains in a private collection. Another pair of chairs of this model, made in oak, was being offered for sale by H. Blairman & Sons, London, in June 2018.

This hall chair is in the Renaissance Revival style and is an example of the collaboration between firms in different countries, which became more common in the 19th century. L.& S. Lövinson, a German firm specialising in carved furniture, and Julius Yacoby or Jacoby, who had a furniture business in London, exhibited furniture together at the International Exhibition held in Paris in 1867. On their stand was an example of this chair with additional carving around the arched top. The Art Journal described their furniture at the Exhibition as showing 'proofs of the grace and elegance they introduce into the more ordinary furniture of domestic life'. It is likely that Lövinson made this chair, which was retailed in London by Yacoby.

W.52-2005