Hall chair
George Nix (fl.1716-1751)
Category
Furniture
Date
1729
Materials
Oak, oil paint
Measurements
105 x 45 x 54 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139637.8
Summary
A sgabello hall chair, from a set of eighteen, carved in oak and painted with the arms of the Tollemache Earls of Dysart, argent, a fret sable beneath an Earl's coronet. Each chair with a solid, waisted back, above a square seat with re-entrant front corners and a dished centre, on shaped and hipped front and rear board supports joined by an arched stretcher.
Full description
This set of eighteen hall chairs were supplied by George Nix. They were intended for the Great Hall, one of the earliest furniture commissions by Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart. Apart from three mahogany stools, these chairs are the only pieces by Nix that can be identified at Ham, even though he supplied a large amount of furniture. His bills to the 4th Earl amounted to ‘£430 13s. 6d.’ for some 150 items between 1729 and 1734.
Provenance
Ham's bills from George Nix (BPA) : a bill dated 1 August 1729 of '£18', 'For 18 Hall Chairs painted and Varnisht'. Acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002.
Makers and roles
George Nix (fl.1716-1751), cabinetmaker
References
Rowell 2013: Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House, 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale University Press, New Haven & London 2013, pp.281-2, Figure 278