A Very Fine Quality Neo-Classical Regency Mahogany Hall Chair c.1810

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Origin: English
Period: Regency
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1805-15
Width: 14.75 inches (at seat)
Height: 33 inches
Depth: 18 inches (at extremities)

The very fine early nineteenth century mahogany hall chair in the neo-classical taste having a curved back with a painted circular reserve crest of a heraldic falcon (?) bird on a Regency powder blue ground flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters, the solid seat on splayed legs, of typical Regency design.

The chair has got a fabulous patination to it and the colour is simply superb. There are a few small faults which could be rectified but could just as easily be ignored which are that the bird cresting is a little skewed to one side, presuming it is meant to be straight, there is a repair to one of the legs, a hairline crack to the seat and there is a roundel missing from the back splat. She remains very solid and the colour she displays is exceptional which we have coaxed out with a wax.

The influences on Regency design and taste were legion; from Sheraton’s neoclassicism, Henry Holland’s Anglo-French taste, the Greek revival of Thomas Hope, and the Chinoiserie favoured by the Prince Regent, to an interest in the Gothic, Old English and rustic. The Regency attitude to interior decoration often involved treating each room as a unit with individual furnishings and wall decorations in harmony of theme or colour scheme.

This chair displays very strong and prominent Regency design staples such as the neo-classical pilasters, the splayed and elegant legs and the powder Regency blue used on the central reserve all-typical. The central cresting would have been a family heraldic motif for a particular family of high standing at the time.

Of its type, this is among the best money can buy; and with such elegant lines, splendid colour and shape it provides a strong design statement.
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