Lot 232: A GEORGE II WALNUT LIBRARY ARMCHAIR

Attributed to Giles Grendey, circa 1740, the chair frame slightly reduced in width and with consequential cuts to the front and back rails The padded rectangular back and seat upholstered in petit-point needlework, the back with ribbon-bound oval cartouche depicting a peasant leaning on a stick with a dog in a landscape with trees, houses and a windmill, the seat with a cartouche depicting a farmyard landscape with a dog barking at geese, both within foliate angles, the downswept arm supports carved with acanthus and rosettes on short cabriole legs headed by elaborate ruffled clasps and scrolling foliage with pendant bellflowers with hairy paw feet and recessed leather casters, the back legs are carved in the round, stamped twice WF PROVENANCE Acquired by Dr. Frank Crozer Knowles through Mr. Harris & Son, London, in circa 1932. The Collection of Dr. Frank Crozer Knowles, sold in these Rooms, 22 October 1988, lot 234 ($52,800). NOTES This chair is almost certainly from the same set as an example from the celebrated Percival D. Griffiths collection at Sandridgebury, Hertfordshire (illustrated in R.W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II, 1929, p. 155, fig. 102) The chair was part of the sale of his effects, sold Christie's London, 11 May 1939, lot 285 (and again, the property of a Gentleman, Christie's London, 7 April 1983, lot 155). When Frank Crozer Knowles purchased this chair, he was fully aware of the Griffiths example. A letter of 26 January 1932 from the noted antique dealer Moss Harris reads: ' Regarding the chairs illustrated in R.W. Symonds Book, figs. 101 and 102, our Harris knows of a collection which contains a chair similar to figure 101. We will endeavour to obtain a photograph of this chair, and send it to you as soon as this can be arranged, for your approval.' Another chair of related design but covered in the same needlework panel is also illustrated the Symonds book (page 121, figure 76) and was included in the Griffiths 1939 sale. All three chairs are covered in companion needlework panels featuring pastoral scenes with figures within an oval foliate-bound ribbon surround obviously worked by the same artisan. The last example differs in its deeply carved apron and carved details to the arms and knees. Frank Crozer Knowles was a knowledgeable collector in his own right. Buying through such notable dealers as Moss Harris and Frank Partridge, he assembled a collection that included many of the best examples of carved mahogany and walnut furniture to come on the market between the wars. He clearly admired Griffiths and acquired many important published pieces from his collection. A magnificent armchair and pair of stools formerly in Griffiths' collection are also illustrated in Symonds' English Furniture from Charles II to George II (figs.95 and 106). Both of these pieces were included in Knowles sale at Christie's in 1988; other pieces from the collection were gifted to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As with the previous lot, this armchair can be firmly attributed to the workshop of cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (1693-1780) of St. Johns Square, Clerkenwell, London, based on virtually identical chairs from Gunton Park, Norfolk that bear his label. The Gunton Park suite differs in that it features scrolled rather than paw feet (see 'Furniture by Giles Grendey' preceding lot 230). Chairs of this model featuring the same hairy paw feet have been part of some of of the most admired collections formed in the early twentieth century. While stools and settees of this model are also known, other examples of library chairs include (but are not exclusive to): 1) the Percival D. Griffiths chair (almost certainly from the same suite) 2) one in the collection of the Hon. Sir John H. Ward, K.C.V.O., illustrated in H. Cescinsky, 'The Collection of the Hon. Sir John H. Ward., K.C.V.O.', The Connoisseur, March 1921, p.142, no.V 3) a pair in the collection of Henry Hirsch, Esq., sold Christie's London, 22 March 1934, lot 84. 4) an example illustrated in H. Cescinsky, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, vol.II, New York, n.d., p.86, fig.32 (with apparently uncarved back legs) 5) a pair, the Property of Henry Nyburg, Esq., sold Sotheby's London, 2 December 1966, lot 154. 6) a pair, originally with Partridge, London, the Property of a Private Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, 29 October 1988, lot 382 ($220,000). 7) a pair, sold anonymously in these Rooms, 27 January 1990, lot 105 ($264,000). 8) a single chair sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 13 April 2000, lot 188 ($110,500) The stamp 'WF' is for an unrecorded tradesman employed in the Grendey workshop. A number of chairs from Grendey's workshop bear the stamp of his journeymen, some of which are recorded in the archives preserved in the Public Records Office. The same 'WF' stamp appears on an impressive set of dining-chairs with identical legs and scallop backs almost certainly supplied to John, 1st Earl Poulett for Hinton House, Somerset and now in the Jon Gerstenfeld collection, Washington D.C. (illustrated in E. Lennox-Boyd, ed., Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, London, 1998, p.110, fig.85 and p.208, no.34). Another set of eight dining-chairs attributed to Grendey bearing this stamp was sold Sotheby's New York, 16-17 April 1998, lot 802 ($211,500).