George III Mahogany armchair attributed to William and John Linnell circa 1775

An open armchair with oval, pierced back, carved with the Prince of Wales' feathers and with drapery. The seat is rounded at the back and serpentine on the front edge. Both the seat rail and the frame of the back are fluted. The legs are turned and tapering, decorated above baluster-turned feet with fluting, and a carved collar at the top of each front leg, showing guilloche below upright leaf motif. The block above each front leg is inlaid with an oval paterae of segments of satinwood. The back legs, heavily raked, are fluted and turned as the front legs but are not carved. This chair pattern, with a heart-shaped back incorporating the Prince of Wales feathers, was very popular in the late 1780s and 1790s, and was probably manufactured by several different firms. The firm of Gillow & Company, of Lancaster and London, were making chairs of this type, which they called ‘Drapery and feather back’, by 1788. The design may have been suggested by the fact that, in 1787, the Prince of Wales took power as Regent when his father, George III, suffered a temporary bout of insanity as a result of the illness. A twin of this chair is visible at VAM Museum, inventory number 1458-1904 Materials and Techniques: Carved mahogany, inlaid with satinwood, the seat upholstered in modern silk. Condition: very good Attributed to William and John Linnell.

Ref. : boHn3TN