POSSIBLY BY WILLIAM VILE & JOHN COBB AND EXECUTED BY WILLIAM STRICKLAND, CIRCA 1760-65

This George III walnut armchair, en suite with the pair at lot 369, was possibly executed by the William Strickland of 75 Long Acre, London. Strickland was the nephew of the cabinet-maker William Vile (1700/05-1767), who, together with his partner John Cobb (1715-78) held a Royal Warrant from 1761-1764. Strickland undoubtedly worked for the firm of Vile & Cobb, and later Cobb after September 1767, prior to going into business with Cobb’s foreman, John Jenkins, as Strickland & Jenkins (1777-93).
The present chairs relate very closely to a mahogany stool signed 'Strickland, Sept 1st 1763', which is illustrated in R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 508, fig. 50 and more clearly still in C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, London, 1906, p. 443, figs. 887-889. Lacking the same acanthus decoration as seen on the presentation rail of the present lot, the outline and distinctive scrolled detail compares closely, while the profile and carved decoration of the leg is virtually identical.
Other signed furniture by Strickland remains confined to hall or window seating and includes a mahogany hall seat bearing a label showing it was made by ‘Strickland nephew of the late Mr. Vile’ (see E. Perry, ‘Impressions of the Antique Dealers’ Fair’, Country Life, 10 June 1954, p. 1896); and a pair of white-painted simulated-bamboo window seats from Forde Abbey, Dorset, both of which bear an ink inscription 'Strickland fecit Long Acre London / November 1764' to the seat rails (sold Christie’s, London, Jasper Conran: The Collection Part I, 14 September 2021, lot 3).
Conceived in the French taste, the present chair evidently belonged to a much larger suite and seat-furniture of the same pattern was formerly at Swaines Hill Manor, Hampshire, and a sofa and pair of armchairs from this suite sold from the collection of The late Marjorie Wiggin Prescott, Belle Haven, Greenwich, CT, USA (illustrated R. Edwards, C. Claxton-Stevens and S. Whittington, 18th Century English Furniture The Norman Adams Collection, Woodbridge, 1983, pp. 38 & 39; Christie’s, New York, 31 January 1981, lot 354). The sofa was sold again, Christie's, London, 11 May - 1 June 2020, lot 108 (£10,000 including premium).
Armchairs of this model but with straight rather than serpentine front seat-rails include a set formerly at Browsholme Hall, Lancashire, sold Christie’s, London, 15 May 1958, lot 55 (four armchairs). These chairs were thought to have formed part of a suite of furniture introduced to the house by Edward Parker (d. 1794) following his inheritance of the estate in 1754. These chairs were later in the Leidesdorf Collection, sold Sotheby’s, London, 27 June 1974, lot 71 (four armchairs). Two pairs, possibly from the Browsholme suite, sold ‘Estate of Ogden Phipps’, Sotheby’s New York, 19 October 2002, lot 52 ($207,500 inc. premium) and lot 53 ($119,500 inc. premium); lot 53 sold again, Christie’s, New York, 21 June 2012, lot 1072 ($100,500).