Object Literature
The vogue for Chinese-inspired interiors in England had been in its heyday in the middle of the eighteenth century, closely associated with the Rococo taste, and was declining in the later part despite some notable projects employing Chinese features, for example Thomas Chippendale´s work at Harewood House and Nostell Priory in the 1770s.
It appears that the Prince of Wales began to be interested in the style around 1790, when he commissioned the lavish interiors for the Chinese Drawing Room at Carlton House. From 1801 onwards, he went on to ´relieve the chaste (classical) interior of Brighton Pavillion´, where he wished for a ´gay and lively scheme of decoration that would be more appropriate for a seaside holiday palace´. (Clifford Musgrave, Regency Furniture, 1800 to 1830, London, 1970).
We believe this is the exact chair that sold for £1998 in Sale 9061 at Christies in London, as lot 457 at South Kensington on the 4th April 2001.
A beautiful work of art and a rare survivor.