Rolleston Ltd

A Pair of George III walnut Gainsborough chairs attributed to Paul Saunders
English, circa 1760-65

The present chairs are of the same model as those supplied by Paul Saunders to the 3rd Viscount Weymouth, later 1st Marquess of Bath (1734-1796), for Longleat, part of a suite of eight armchairs and two settees, covered by payments to Saunders of £556 15s. 0d. in November 1757 and £300. 0s. 0d. in November 1759, and to the 1st Earl of Leicester for Holkham Hall, part of a suite of ‘10 Elbow / chairs with carved and gilt / frames’ for which ‘Mr. Saunders’ charged £74. 0s. 4d. on 11th June 1757.1

Like the Longleat and Holkham chairs, the present chairs have serpentine rectangular backs and out-pointing shaped arms carved on the terms with scrolls and on the supports with upspringing acanthus. The present chairs bear particular resemblance to the Longleat examples which do not feature carved rails and are raised on cabriole legs terminating in feet scrolled in the manner as the present chairs.

The present armchairs compare particularly with the suite of eight armchairs likely made by Saunders for the 2nd Earl of Egremont for Petworth House, Sussex (NT 485400.1-7), associated with the 1763 bill to the Earl’s executors detailing ‘8 smaller French Elbow chairs...£40’.2 The pair and the set feature the same shell-issuing-acanthus-leaf carving on the knees, in addition to upspringing acanthus on the arm supports as seen before. Like the Petworth chairs, the present examples are constructed in walnut.

Saunders was one of the most fashionable upholders of the 1750s and 1760s, enjoying the patronage of the grandest aristocratic taste-makers of the mid eighteenth century as well as Royal appointment from October 1757 as ‘Yeoman Arras Worker to the Great Wardrobe’, and from May 1761 as ‘Yeoman Tapestry Taylor’, positions which he held concurrently until his death in 1771.

A 17th Century red lacquer table with incised bird and flower motifs 💫

Chinese: 17th century

A refined red lacquer table of elegant proportion, the rectangular top richly ornamented with polychrome decoration and delicate qiangjin incised lines, depicting birds poised among flowering branches. The composition unfolds across the surface with rhythmic balance, blossoms and foliage animated by finely cut outlines. The shaped apron and cabriole legs are similarly enriched with floral ornament, creating a pleasing continuity between structure and surface.

Tables of this type belong to a sophisticated tradition of Chinese lacquer furniture in which graceful form is animated by richly worked surface decoration rather than dense carving. The present example is especially appealing for the way its painterly ornament is united with a light and elegant silhouette. The warm red ground provides an ideal field for the intricate bird and flower designs, whose finely incised outlines lend precision, movement, and delicacy to the overall composition.

TEFAF come and see these extraordinary Beijing enamel panels.