Christopher Dresser, Pair of lady's Chairs, Designed c. 1877,… - Modern + Contemporary - Shapiro Auctioneers

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Description:

Christopher Dresser, Pair of lady's Chairs, Designed c. 1877, English; ebonized timber with carved and gilt decoration. Curved, angled backs with perpendicular rear supports and shaped side brackets, formalized decoration of carved and gilt Egyptian lotus leaves and flowers, resting on rear curved bracket legs and square section tapering turned front legs all with incised gilt lotus motifs. Both chairs stamped on rear leg '3177', dimensions 98 x 60 x 85 cm. A sketch by Dresser that correlates closely with these chairs was first published in the British journal The Technical Educator c. 1870 and was later published in revised format as Principles of Decorative Design in 1873. The chair (Principles, fig 32) was described by Dresser as a 'lady's chair in early Greek (style)'. A sketch of a lounge in the same journal (fig 36) has an almost identical decorative frieze on the seat frame as these chairs. The construction of the chairs is faithful to Dresser's study of early Greek models and was described by him 'the frame of the seat is first formed and the legs are inserted beneath it.... would bear any amount of pressure from above, but is not well calculated for resisting lateral pressure.... they (the legs) should be very short'. The relatively large seat frame of a simple module, 24 inches square and raised 12 inches from the ground, has been noted before on a similar chair (Gere and Whiteway, pl 228).. Provenance: It is likely that these chairs were part of the contents of an auction sale conducted on behalf of Jonathan Stephens Perry at his residence Linton, North Shore, Sydney on 27th February 1880. Described amongst the goods for sale was 'Superb Ebonized and Gold Drawing-Room Furniture specially designed for the proprietor by the celebrated Dr. Christopher Dresser, Art Designer of London, whose efforts in this instance have never been surpassed' and further described in the auction bill as '2 ladies' chairs'. Linton was described in the auction bill as an 'elegant marine residence.... one of the finest and most tastefully furnished residences in the colony.... fronts the road leading to Kirribilli Point (between Milson's Point and Kirribilli Point on what is now Kirribilli Avenue, formerly Campbell Street)'., Jonathan Stephens Perry was Christopher Dresser's brother in law. Dresser married Perry's sister, Thirza, in 1854 and her brothers William and Charles Perry were at one point named as executors in Christopher Dresser's will. Contemporary records document that Jonathan Perry arrived in Sydney aboard the Queenstown from England in 1852 and conducted business described variously as warehousemen, drapers, silk merchants and importers of fancy goods from 1858. Together with his brother Josiah, they traded as Perry Bros. 92 King Street, Sydney (from c. 1873 as William Perry & Company 408 George Street, Sydney), in London as Perry Bros., Merchants from 1865 and as William Perry & Company, Merchants from 1874. He owned a personal residence at Stanmore Road, Marrickville until c. 1876. Linton, Clapham Rise, North Shore, first appeared in Sands Directories as the property of William Perry in 1879, and again in 1880. Broadwood and Sons' archives document an order for the pianoforte described in the auction bill. The order was placed on 1st February 1877 under the name William Perry & Company and specified J.S. Perry as the consignee with delivery instructions to Sydney. Jonathan Perry appears in an English census entry in 1881 and records that he stayed with his brother, William, as a 'visitor / retired Aus merchant / age 59 / born Falmouth'., Literature: Bradley, Newton and Lamb. Advertisement, Sydney Morning Herald, 27th February 1880-'Linton', North Shore, 'elegant marine residence of J.S. Perry, Esq., near the old Congregational Church', Dresser, Christopher. Principles of Design IX: Art Furniture - Chairs. The Technical Educator: An Encyclopaedia of Technical Education. Vol. 1. London and New York: 1870-1872, p.313., Dresser

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Category:

Unclassified