Each with slightly arched rectangular padded back edged with applied rosette-carved moulding, the padded seats similarly edged, covered in celadon silk damask decorated with baskets of flowers, on square legs carved with rounded rectangular panels of flower-filled trellis and wrapped with carved foliage, fruit and acorns, on guttae feet and headed by pierced 'Chinese' angle brackets, the legs of eight of the chairs cut and reattached, some not reattached to the original chairs, the guttae feet probably reduced, some losses and replacements to the edge moulding and angle brackets throughout
39 in. (99 cm.) high; 23¹⁄₂ in. (60 cm.) wide; 26 in. (66 cm.) deep

Eight chairs presumably supplied to William Clayton, circa 1760, for Harleyford Manor, Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
By descent to Sir Harold Clayton, Bt.
Sold by him and the Trustees of the will of Lady A.G. Clayton, Christie's London (Spencer House), 20 July 1950, lot 84 (235 Guineas to M. Turner, part lot).
David Style, Esq., Wateringbury Place, Maidstone, Kent (The Drawing Room); sold Christie's house sale, 31 May 1978, lot 244 (part lot).
Four chairs:
Anonymous sale; Christie's London, 6 July 1989, lots 83 & 83a.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's New York, 11 October 1996, lot 396.
Ten chairs:
Anonymous private collection sale 'East & West'; Christie's, London, 2 May 2013, lot 79 (where offered with the en suite sofas included in this sale).

'Harleyford, Buckhinghamshire, A Seat of Sir William Clayton, Bt.', Country Life, 4 June 1910, p. 817, three chairs illustrated in the Library.

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Lot Essay

These chairs formed part of a suite of seat furniture, along with the pair of sofas (included in this sale) and at least three stools (previously sold), which feature the distinctive foliate-wrapped legs carved with oblong trellis panels and guttae feet, as well as the fine rosette-carved edge moulding found on the celebrated drawing-room suite commissioned by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (d. 1771) for St. Giles's House, Dorset, now known as the St. Giles's suite. The St. Giles's suite of saloon furniture originally comprised four settees and at least twenty-five open armchairs. For many years the manufacture of that suite was credited to Thomas Chippendale as they are the epitome of the 'Modern' style promoted in his Director, combining Roman and French tastes. Indeed, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (d. 1885), in a memorandum written in the mid-19th Century, described them as being 'very valuable and fine, being by Chippendale'. However, the suite is now attributed to William Vile (d. 1767), who worked with William Hallett (d. 1773) before receiving his appointment as 'cabinet-maker' to George III. Vile adopted guttae feet for the stools which he and his partner John Cobb supplied for the Vyne, Hampshire, invoiced in March 1753 as - '8 large mahogany stools with carv'd feet and carv'd brackets' (A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, p. 27, fig. 28). The attribution also derives from the superb carving of the suite, which is filigreed in the intricate manner adopted by architectural model makers and corresponds to the fashion adopted by George III and Queen Charlotte for the furnishings supplied by Messrs. Vile and Cobb for Royal residences including St. James Palace and the Queen's House, now Buckingham Palace. For the three stools from this suite previously sold, see: anonymous private collection sale 'East & West'; Christie's, London, 2 May 2013, lots 80 & 81.

The reason for the removal and subsequent reattachment of the feet of the chairs remains a mystery. Indeed, it is an odd, but perhaps not unknown, practice - as this was also the case with the pair of mahogany sofas attributed to Paul Saunders and supplied to John Spencer, later 1st Earl Spencer (1734-83), probably for Spencer House, London, Wimbledon Park, Surrey or Althorp, Northamptonshire (see The Spencer House sale, Christie's London, 8 July 2010, lot 1037).

Harleyford Manor, situated on the banks of the River Thames in Buckinghamshire, was built from a design by the architect Sir Robert Taylor for William Clayton (d. 1783), second son of Sir William Clayton, 1st Bt. (d. 1744), who had bought the earlier house and land in 1736. Sir Robert Taylor pulled down the earlier manor house in 1755, and replaced it with the design that still exists today.

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Condition report

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The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.

Overall these chairs are in fairly good condition and are generally structurally stable. As catalogued, eight of the chairs have had the lower 3-4 inches of each leg reattached, some of them on the wrong legs / some have been reordered when reattached. There are some losses, repairs and replacements to the angle brackets, and to the edge moulding, which would have to have been removed and reattached each time the suite was reupholstered. The suite has been re-webbed, stuffed and covered, and the present upholstery is very full, the silk worn, it has worn through in places, especially to the seats of some of the chairs and with minor stains, marks and wear.

Each chair in more detail:
1. One section missing to back left-hand bracket. Losses to top of guttae feet. Old worm. Quite sun-faded. Split to moulding of toprail in middle and loss to right corner of same. Back left leg lacking carving to reverse.
2. One section missing to rear left-hand side bracket. Losses to top of guttae feet. Old worm. Section of back left leg carving to reverse lacking.
3. LEGS HAVE NOT BEEN CUT AND REATTACHED. Pads to one front and one back foot. One section missing to both side front brackets and right side rear bracket. Surface of the timber is dry. Left rail in oak. Back rail possibly replaced. Losses to top of guttae feet. Minor losses to toprail. The reverse of the back right leg lacking carving. Minor old worm.
4. Both front brackets lacking a section and the front left bracket broken. The back right leg is very damaged and discoloured, and has been reattached slightly off-centre. Old worm. Losses to the top of the feet. Losses to edge moulding.
5. Left side front bracket missing one section. Sun faded. Old worm. Losses to top of feet. Losses to edge moulding. Later small blocks to front legs.
6. Section lacking to front left bracket and back right bracket. Old worm. Losses to the top of the feet. Minor losses to carved edge moulding.
7. Sun faded. Lower section of front left leg possibly replaced. Losses to the top of the feet. Losses to edge moulding. Old worm.
8. LEGS HAVE NOT BEEN CUT AND REATTACHED. The left siderail has been replaced. Sections missing from both front brackets and the right side rear bracket. Losses to the feet. Old worm.
9. Lacking section of edge moulding to frontrail on right hand side, approx. 1 inch long. Old worm.
10. Sun faded. Old worm. Losses to feet.

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