Chair
manner of Giles Grendey (1693 - 1780)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1730
Materials
Walnut, textile
Measurements
99.5 cm (H); 59.5 cm (W); 52.5 cm (D)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Lamb House, Rye, East Sussex
NT 204068
Summary
A walnut chair, in the manner of Giles Grendey (1693-1780), London, circa 1730. With a double bowed top rail and three quarter solid back splat, needle point upholstered drop in seat and raised on shell carved cabriole forelegs with trifid feet, the back legs turned and splayed.
Full description
The chair shares much in common with Giles Grendey's labelled oeuvre, making his workshop a possible candidate for its production. The unusual back with three quarter splat is seen on other chairs, a set of four painted with the crest of the Vaughan's of Courtfield were sold Sotheby's (26th October 2016) , the double bowed top rail and the lipped carved detail to the top of the cabriole foreleg are also Grendey design features (see: Mackinnon 'The Sign of the Chair' exh.cat.pp.30-31). Grendey was born in Gloucestershire and was apprenticed to William Sherborne in London in 1708/9. Grendey completed his apprenticeship in 1716 and became a freeman. By 1726 he was taking on his own apprentices and was recognised as the most accomplished English cabinetmaker incorporating ‘japanned’ decoration. Grendey’s workshop was in Aylesbury House, St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell. He labelled some of his products and one of his surviving labels advertised that he: ‘MAKES and Sells all Sorts of CABINET GOODS, Chairs, Tables, Glasses, etc.’ (James Weedon, January 2020)
Provenance
Possibly gifted by Mrs Elizabeth Leach to the National Trust. Listed in the Inventory of Contents of the Oak Parlour, Hall and Telephone Room, Lamb House, Rye, Sussex, January 1975.
Makers and roles
manner of Giles Grendey (1693 - 1780), cabinetmaker manner of Giles Grendey (1693 - 1780), furniture designer
References
Mackinnon 'The Sign of the Chair' Exhibition catalogue, p.31 Bowett 2009, Early Georgian Furniture 1715 - 1740 (2009), pp.178-9