Today, we are pleased to present one of our proudest pieces, this fine pair of early 19th century Regency ‘lyre’ fronted library chairs. Elegant and grand, made for a lovely afternoon with a book. The shaped back rises over an outscrolling arm that ends in a carved flower-head terminal, and the whole arm is carried on a lyre-shaped mahogany frame finished with barley-twist and moulded detail. Below, the chairs terminate on a fluted, turned front leg and an outswept sabre back leg, each fitted with brass casters so the pair could be moved easily across a library floor.
The chairs are made in the manner of Gillows of Lancaster and London, one of the most respected names in the whole of English furniture. Gillows furniture was a byword for quality, and other designers even used Gillows to manufacture their furniture. Also known as Gillow & Co., the firm was founded around 1730 by Robert Gillow (1704–1772), a Lancaster joiner who had sailed to the West Indies as a ship’s carpenter and brought home some of the earliest mahogany seen in England. The pattern appears in several of the great houses the firm furnished during the Regency, and chairs of this exact type relate to the “Easy Chairs” Gillows supplied to Hackwood Park in Hampshire, recorded in their 1813 Memorandum. Related chairs also feature in a number of Gillow’s early 19th Century room elevations preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.47-1952).
The lyre was a signature motif of the Regency period. The taste of the age was for Greek antiquity (clean lines, archaeological accuracy, a sense of restraint) after the curves and flourishes of the Georgian era. Interestingly, the lyre was the instrument of Apollo, the god of music and poetry. As such, it belonged naturally in a library or music room. Designers of this era used it everywhere: in chair backs, table supports, and (as here) in the side frames of a seat.
The fine craftmanship and unique warm figured mahogany that this pair brings, makes them inimitable. Framing a fireplace, anchoring the ends of a library table, or flanking a window, they sit just as happily in a modern interior, where they bring an elegance that is unmatched.
Please feel free to browse through our website to see our fine pieces in both our Dublin and New York Galleries. If you have any questions, or if we can assist in any other way, please email us at info@osullivanantiques.com and ask for stock number 10370. We are always happy to hear from you.
