Large Pair of Irish Mahogany Library Armchairs in the Georgian Style

A large pair of Irish mahogany library armchairs in the Georgian style, each with the shaped rectangular back, arm rests and seat upholstered in chestnut leather with close studded brass nails, richly carved with lions’ heads to the arms and knees, the seat rails with tied C-scrolls and acanthus leaves on a trellis ground, the cabriole legs terminating in hairy paw feet to the front and rear. Ireland,circa 1890. These chairs are extremely faithful copies of one of the most sought-after chair models for early collectors of English furniture. At the beginning of the 20th century when furniture history was first being recognised as worthy of study, the so called “lion mask” furniture was in very high demand and only the wealthiest of collectors could hope to possess George Ii period examples. The Dictionary of English Furniture illustrates a chair of this precise model from the collection of J. Thursby Pelham (fig. 124, p.265). In fact this suite is illustrated in virtually all of the classic English furniture reference books from this period. Herbert Cescinsky featured a chair, in the possession of the dealer C. Charles (Charles Duveen, brother of the even more famous Joseph Duveen) in his English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. Ii fig.62 Cescinsky also featured a chair of this model in his English Furniture from Gothic to Sheraton. The dealer Cecil Partridge took a chair of this model to the Art Treasures Exhibition in 1932 and it was one of very few pieces chosen to be illustrated in the catalogue. Geoffrey Beard and Judith Goodison discuss this model in their English Furniture 1500-1840, mentioning that examples of the model are in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art amongst other important collections. Chairs of this model have been owned by the famous collectors Judge Untermyer and H.J. Joel at Childwick Bury (illustrated below) amongst others. Christie’s also chose to illustrate one of the chairs in Country Life on the 16th of December 1982 as they had recently sold a pair for the enormous price of £36,720 in November of that year. Our chairs represent a rare opportunity to acquire chairs made after this important design and would enhance any great collection or decorative scheme.