Walnut chair, 1740-1745, English, with rounded and pierced back of shell motif and applied carved "C" scrolls and husks, raised on cabriole legs with claw and ball feet. Seat upholstered in needlework with dark ground and floral pattern.

Walnut chair with a laminated back; the base of which is of straight grain walnut with a veneer of figured walnut. The back is rounded and pierced with a shell motif and applied carved Rococo "C" scrolls and trails of husks. The base of the shell ornament is connected to the back seat rail by a pierced figure-of-eight, which rests in the shoe. Both front and back legs are cabriole; the back being plain with pad feet, and the front ones are decorated with carved foliage on the knees and terminate in claw and ball feet. The seat rails with corner brackets are of beech.

Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch

Bequeathed by Claude Rotch.
This chair is of almost the same design as a set of ten side chairs and two armchairs of walnut with gilt details and fourteen side chairs in mahogany without gilding at Stourhead (information at 1963 - to be verified). The main difference is that on this example the carved knee is not carried up in a volute above the seat rail.

See: Dictionary of English Furniture 2nd edition. Fig 154, p.275
A set of twelve chairs and two armchairs of this design were sold in the Chrysler sale in May 1960.
A set of six chairs of similar pattern were sold by Messrs. Blairman to New York in about 1959
A set of ten chairs and two armchairs were in the possession of The London Shop, New Orleans in 1960.

W.24-1962