A rare early George III yew wood elbow chair, the pierced moulded shield shaped back centred with a painted crest above quatrefoils, with crook shaped arms, solid dished seat on a scabella formed...

A rare early George III yew wood elbow chair, the pierced moulded shield shaped back centred with a painted crest above quatrefoils, with crook shaped arms, solid dished seat on a scabella formed framed, the panelled legs with quatrefoil filled roundrels and acanthus carved tops joined by a moulded y-shaped stretcher. Note: This unusual armchair derives from plate 17 of Chippendale's Director and can be dated to c.1765 and is at the forefront of the introduction of The Gothic pioneered by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill. The fact that unusually it is carved from solid yew wood does support an Irish origin and the crest, although used by other English families is that of The Conyngham family. Being coupled and not erased would indicate the family of Conyngham of Springhill. Interestingly Colonel William Conyngham renovated Springhill in the 1760's and remains of a gothic wallpaper of this period can be found in the library. However as this chair was brought over from England, see provenance below, it is likely to be English although the use of solid yew wood is exceptional. James Peill, August 2009. Provenance: Duke of Buckingham, Stowe, Wotton and Gosfield Park; acquired by the vendor's grandfather on the purchase of the Wotton estate and contents of the house and removed to Ireland in the 1940s.

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