THE ‘CAVE’ ARMCHAIRS
THE ‘CAVE’ ARMCHAIRS
English
circa 1800 - 1805
Pair of Late George III Cream & Polychrome-Decorated & Parcel Gilt Armchairs
Each with a top rail centred by an oval tablet painted with cherubs above four acanthus wreaths and a quatrefoil-pierced trellis back, the down swept arms painted with laurel, the bowed padded seat covered in buttoned crimson red silk with gold braid, on turned tapering reeded legs with turned feet.
I wonder if the trellis to the backs was at least partially chosen as it echoes the main field of the Blazon of Cave Baronets of Cleeve Hill Sheild as seen in the hyper link below.
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75348752#/media/File:Blazon_of_Cave_Baronets_of_Cleve_Hill_(1896).svg
Probably supplied to Stephen Cave Esq. (1763-1838), Cleve Hill, Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire and Piccadilly, London and by descent to Charles Cave (b. 26 September 1796, d. 6 June 1887), 4th son of Stephen Cave and Anne Daniel of Barbados, 13 Lowndes St., London and St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados and by descent to
Laurence Trent Cave (b. 11 August 1824, d. 17 August 1899), 2nd son of Charles Cave, of Ditcham Park, Petersfield, 13 Lowndes Square and St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados and by descent to
Charles John Philip Cave, MA, FSA, FRPS (b. 1 May 1871, d. 8 December 1950), eldest son of Laurence Trent Cave, of Ditcham Park, Petersfield and St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados and by descent to
Laurence Charles Henry Cave (b. 19 August 1896, d. 21 November 1981), eldest son of Charles John Philip Cave, of Bletchingley, Surrey and St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados and by descent to
Lt. Col. Stephen Cave O.B.E., sold in these Rooms, 17 November 1988, lot 50 (the suite of twenty armchairs and a pair of sofas).
THE 'CAVE' ARMCHAIRS
Commissioned by Stephen Cave (d. 1838) for Cleeve (or Cleve Hill), Gloucestershire, these elegant French 'squab-cushioned' chairs, and en suite sofas bearing the date 1802, are designed with fluted pillars and flowered tablets in the antique manner popularised by Thomas Sheraton's, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, 1793. Their japanned frames are festooned with 'Apollo' laurels, while 'Venus' pearls wreath tablets, whose floral bouquets were popularised by the Great Marlborough Street 'Peintre Ebéniste' and author George Brookshaw (d. 1823). The stamp of the Wardour Street 'Chair-maker' John Gee (d. c. 1824) has been recorded on related chairs, which also bear journeyman brands (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1660-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 222).
Condition
The painted armchairs catalogued with Freshfords Fine Antiques seem to retain the cherubs and birds as well as all the parcel gilt outlines to the the reverse and other motifs from the original set. The London Antique Dealership of Partridge advertised in their catalogue in 1989 'Summer Exhibition Catalogue', an illustration of the same chairs listed above.
The Christies catalogue entry as mentioned in the provenance (lot 50) shows that in 1988 the catalogue entry shows the chairs and the settees having had the cherub decoration when sold from the family in 1988.
Literature
Lot 112 Christies, London, June 2008 catalogues a set of 12 identical chairs, however the set have possibly/probably been re-painted with flowers over the cherubs and had the complete removal of other motifs.
Dimensions
Height 85.00cm (33.46 inches)
Width 54.00cm (21.26 inches)
Depth 50.00cm (19.69 inches)
Stock No: 11799
£7,895.00
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