Mallett catalogue 2013_DEF_Q9_new Mallett catalogue design 19/04/13 10:34 Pagina 161
M A L L E T T LO N D O N
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N E W YO R K
› A SUITE OF TWELVE CHINESE SIDE CHAIRS A rare suite of twelve Chinese Huanghuali hardwood chairs, the hooped back carved with scrolled acanthus leaves and central bellflowers beneath a deep lambrequin with further foliate carving. The base to the central splat has an inverted bellflower above a drop-in compass seat, supported on cabriole front legs each with a carved lion’s mask on the knees and further acanthus carving, terminating in ball and claw feet. China, circa 1745 Height: 39¼in/100cm Width: 22½in/57cm Depth: 18½in/47cm F3C0351
This rare set of Chinese-export side chairs are of almost identical design to an English walnut model, an example of which is in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and a pair are also in the Gerstenfeld Collection, Washington DC. The latter was purchased by Mallett in the 1980s from the Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe family, which strongly supports Lucy Wood’s suggestion in her book, The Upholstered Furniture in The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Vol. 1, that copies of the walnut model may have been commissioned by Sir Henry Gough (1708-1774), a prosperous trade merchant with India and China, during his excursions to the Orient. This can be based on the fascinating discovery of a portrait of Sir Henry and his family by the artist William Verelst, dated 1741, which features four chairs of identical pattern in the background. The portrait is believed to have been painted to commemorate Sir Henry’s marriage the same year to Barbara Calthorpe, from whom descend the previous owners of the mentioned walnut pair. This set of Chinese chairs forms part of a larger group consisting of at least sixteen single chairs and two armchairs; the twelve chairs now displayed were collected over a period of twenty five years and this is the first time they have ever been seen in public as a group. LITERATURE
L. Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Vol. 1. National Museums, Liverpool, 2008, pp 435-436
An English walnut model of very similar design
A portrait of Sir Henry Gough and his family, featuring the chairs in the background, by William Verelst, dated 1741
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