Royal House
Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this very rare pair
of Thomas Chippendale era circa 1760 Library chairs with period embroidered upholstery.
These are a very rare and highly collectable pair
of Library chairs, they were made in the Chippendale era and closely after his
designs, the fret work carving, ornate legs, all very finely executed by a
master craftsman
The upholstery is all original embroidery, the
colours are very much of the period and not seen on later reproduction pieces.
These are an exceptional example and would be highly prized in any collection.
The chairs have been lightly restored to include
some work to the carvings, the timber has been sympathetically French polished
to ensure none of the original charm and patina has been lost.
A period pair of Chippendales by the great man
himself (which these could be) would retail for the high hundreds of thousands,
however alas Chippendales are only originals if they come with iron clad
provenance, a difficult thing to keep hold of for nearly 250 years. One of the
chairs has a plaque to the base for Charles Tozer of 25 Brook street London, Mr
Tozer was a very well-respected Antiques dealer in the early 20th to mid-20th
century that specialised in 18th century furniture
Dimensions
Height:- 97cm
Width:- 64cm
Depth:- 65cm
Please note all measurements are taken at the
widest point, if you would like any additional or specific measurements, please
ask
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was born
in Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England in June 1718.
He became a cabinetmaker in London, designing furniture in the
mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754
he published a book of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet
Maker's Director, upon which success he became renowned. The designs are
regarded as representing the current British fashion for furniture of that
period and are now reproduced globally. He was buried 16 November 1779,
according to the records of St Martin-in-the-Fields, in the cemetery since
built upon by the National Gallery. Chippendale furniture is much valued;
a padouk cabinet that was offered for auction during 2008 sold for
£2,729,250.
Life
"A Design for a State Bed" from
the Director, 1762. Chippendale was born the only child of John
Chippendale (1690–1768), joiner, and his first wife Mary (née Drake)
(1693–1729). He received an elementary education at Prince Henry's Grammar
School. The Chippendale family had long been involved with the wood
working trades and so he probably received his basic training from his father,
though it is believed that he was also trained by Richard Wood in York,
before he relocated to London. Wood later ordered eight copies of
the Director. On 19 May 1748 he married Catherine Redshaw at St George's
Chapel, Mayfair and they had five sons and four daughters.
During 1749 Chippendale rented a modest house in
Conduit Court, near Covent Garden. In 1752 he relocated to Somerset Court,
off the Strand. In 1754 Chippendale relocated to 60–62 St Martin's
Lane in London, where for the next 60 years the family business operated,
until 1813 when his son, Thomas Chippendale (Junior), was evicted for
bankruptcy. During 1754 he also began a partnership with James Rannie, a
wealthy Scottish merchant, who put money into the business at the same time as
Chippendale produced the first edition of the Director. Rannie and his
bookkeeper, Thomas Haig, probably cared for the finances of the business. His
wife, Catherine, died during 1772. After James Rannie died in 1766, Thomas Haig
seems to have borrowed £2,000 from Rannie's widow, which he used to become
Chippendale's partner. One of Rannie's executors, Henry Ferguson, became a
third partner and so the business became Chippendale, Haig and Co. Thomas
Chippendale (Junior) assumed management of the business in 1776 allowing his father
to retire. He relocated to what was then called Lob's Fields (now known as
Derry Street) in Kensington. Chippendale married Elizabeth Davis at Fulham
Parish Church on 5 August 1777. He fathered three more children. In 1779
Chippendale relocated to Hoxton where he died
of tuberculosis and was buried at St
Martin-in-the-Fields on 16 November 1779.
There is a statue and memorial plaque dedicated to
Chippendale outside The Old Grammar School Gallery in Manor Square, in his hometown
of Otley, near Leeds, Yorkshire. There is a full-size
sculpted figure of Thomas Chippendale on the façade of the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London.
Any questions please feel
free to ask before you bid.
ABOUT US
Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family
ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We
specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating,
along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th
century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer
brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames,
Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on
PAYMENTS
We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash,
Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are
paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all
paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee
will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are
happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the
purchase
If sold items aren’t collected within three months
and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the
item and payment
CONDITION
Please view the very detailed pictures as
they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid
and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed
Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any
independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on
any point, please feel free to ask for clarity
Please note vintage period and original items such
as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and
wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed
leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of
time as it will dry out and fade
DELIVERY OR COLLECTION
This item is available for collection from our Pulborough
warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered
nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee
Please contact me via email, alternatively my
contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with
your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed
covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed
covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France
Please be sure to include which item you would like
to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more
than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the
second and third item, for international shipping please view the below
information
COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED
We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our
nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company
that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can
send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or
soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time
frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely
governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances
Whomever delivers will always require help on the
larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on
this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect
the price to send a two-person team
Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you
need help upstairs or in flats etc that's absolutely not a problem, the
couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working
elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee
All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to
the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client
and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate
your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book
in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be
made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior
arrangement
IMPORT DUTY
Most countries charge some kind of import duty
however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt
from tax due to the age and materials used
For European deliveries the price you will be
quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so
there won’t be any additional fees
For international deliveries such as the United
States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would
estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for
either
All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser
who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or
factored in with additional retrospective discounts
RETURNS
Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return
policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece
you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected
within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding
a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy
We don’t offer a sale on approval service which
means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like
it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot
of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the
costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece
please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything
before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in
person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer,
perhaps look for a local gallery instead