RO N A L D PHILLIPS
4 A PAIR OF GEORGE II WALNUT LIBRARY ARMCHAIRS ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM VILE An exceptionally fine and important pair of mid 18th century carved walnut library armchairs attributed to William Vile, each having an upholstered rectangular back and seat with stuffed arms covered in olive-green silk damask, the arms on downswept supports carved with floral paterae and acanthus leaf; on cabriole legs with acanthus carved knees, terminating in hairy paw feet, with concealed leather castors of later date. Note: This outstanding pair of chairs was originally part of a suite of ten chairs, two settees and a pair of sofas. The suite would have been very expensive at the time; walnut had been almost completely phased out due to heavy import duties applied on the timber in order to promote the use of mahogany from the British colonies. The quality of the carving is second to none, and supports the attribution to the London-based firm of William Vile. Vile was a cabinet-maker who had close connections to William Hallett (who had by this date retired; he and John Cobb later formed the partnership of Vile & Cobb. All three companies are also known as the St. Martin’s Lane Syndicate. The original seat rails have been reinforced with an additional subframe for extra strength. English, circa 1750 Height: 40½ in; 103 cm Height of seat: 17½ in; 44.5 cm Width: 30½ in; 77.5 cm Depth: 32 in; 81.5 cm Provenance: Supplied to Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston and Earl of Hardwicke, for Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, until sold with the house by the 5th Earl in 1894; Thomas, 2nd Baron Robartes and 6th Viscount Clifden; Moved by the 6th Viscount or his son, Francis Gerald, 7th Viscount Clifden, to Lanhydrock, Cornwall; 7th Viscount Clifden, KCVO, Lanhydrock, Bodmin, Cornwall, sold at Christie’s, London, 10 December 1953; E. T. Biggs & Sons, Maidenhead, in 1960. Illustrated: Charles Latham, In English Homes, 1909, vol. III, p. 279; the suite shown in situ in the Long Drawing-Room at Wimpole Hall. Christopher Hussey, ‘Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, II’, Country Life, 28 May 1927, p. 846. ‘Furniture at Wimpole Hall’, Country Life, 28 November 1931, p. 591, figs. 4–6. John Cornforth, ‘Victorian Lanhydrock, II’, Country Life, 23 February 1978, p. 461, fig. 9. Literature: Antique Collector, January–February 1947, pp. 2–8. Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660–1840, 1986, pp. 923–8.
Opposite: Part of the suite in situ at Wimpole Hall in 1927. Country Life Picture Archive
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