The serpentine crest rail flanked by padded wings continuing to out-scrolling arms, the loose seat cushion resting on ogival seat-rail on squared cabriole legs, covered overall in 18th century needlework worked in gros and petit point polychrome wool with silk highlights depicting biblical scenes punctuated by oak leaves and exotic birds
54¹⁄₂ in. (138.5 cm.) high, 32¹⁄₂ in. (82.5 cm.) wide, 23¹⁄₂ in. (59.5 cm.) deep

With Frank Partridge, London, circa 1928.
Mr. Robert Tritton, Godmersham, Park Canterbury, Kent.
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964.
Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Christie's, New York, 14-15 December 2015, lot 113 ($47,500).
Acquired from the above sale.

Exhibition of Art Treasures under the Auspices of The British Antique Dealers' Association, Grafton Galleries, London, 1928, no. 31, p. 9.
C. Hussey, 'Godmersham Park, Kent, III', Country Life, 2 March 1945, p. 377 (shown in the Library at Godmersham).
Y. Hackenbroch, English Furniture with some furniture from other countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1958, pl. 47-48, figs. 70-71.
Y. Hackenbroch, English and Other Needlework, Tapestries and Textiles in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1960, pl. 100-101, figs. 138-139.
M. Swain, 'Pictorial Chair Covers: Some Engraved Sources', Furniture History, 1975, pp. 77-78, figs. 164-166, 168.
Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of English and Continental Decorative Arts, New York, 1977, p. 71, no. 121.

London, Grafton Galleries, Exhibition of Art Treasures under the Auspices of The British Antique Dealers' Association, 1928, no. 31 (with Frank Partridge).

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Lot Essay

The scenes depicted on the needlework back depict the Baptism of the Eunuch of Ethiopia by Philip (Acts VIII. 26-39). Details including the chariot, attendants and open Scriptures on the seat derive from an illustration by Matthew Merian of Basel in the 1627 New Testament published in Frankfurt (M. Swain, pp. 77-78).