A set of six George III giltwood side chairs, circa 1765, attributed to Thomas Chippendale

With Partridge, London;

Collection of Sir Guy Millard;

Christie’s London, 22nd May 2014, lot 1160;

Arlington conservation for upholstery, 2015.

An important component of Thomas Chippendale’s success was his ever-versatile approach to styles, designing and creating pieces that varied from sober, grand neoclassicism to fantastical Gothic creations. These chairs correspond with the group of seating furniture described as ‘French’ in The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director for ‘French’ chairs, most notably the sofa on plate XXX and the armchair on plate XXIII in the 3rd edition.¹ While a generally Rococo feeling for curved, natural lines can be seen in many examples of Chippendale’s designs, he brings remarkable levels of theatricality when mimicking French Rococo design directly – indeed, his work in this style is akin to the similarly exuberant responses to French Rococo furniture that were being produced contemporaneously in Italy.

These chairs are part of a much larger suite, of which three chairs and two bergères were at Mentmore Towers in the collection of the 5th Earl of Rosebery, selling in the epic 1977 house sale at Sotheby’s as lot 1265; the pair of bergères would later come to the market at Christie’s in their Thomas Chippendale: 300 Years auction and sold for £106,250.² A sofa that is apparently also from this suite also sold at Christie’s 2003 for $45,410.³

The attribution to Chippendale rests on the similarities with a documented suite that he made for Sir Lawrence Dundas at 19 Arlington Street, on which he treats the C-scrolls at the knees and the foliate carving along the legs and rails in the same way.⁴ That suite also features the same trailing husks to the rails; the primary difference is in the choice of ornamental motif to the centre of the seat and top rails, with Chippendale opting for a palmette on the present suite that is rather like the one on the seat furniture he provided for Sir David Garrick in 1768.⁵

Another sofa close to the present suite sold at Christie’s New York, 14th June 2017, lot 215 for $97,500, and there have been a few other examples at auction attributed to Chippendale with analogous carving and overall decoration.⁶

The previous owner of the present chairs was the British diplomat Sir Guy Millard (1917–2013). His career is mainly known for his close involvement with Sir Anthony Eden around the time of the Suez Crisis, but he went on to hold ambassadorships to Hungary, Sweden and Italy, as well as taking senior diplomatic roles stationed in Tehran and Washington. An urbane and elegant linguist, he was also a passionate collector of Chinese art.⁷

¹ Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, New York, 1966 reprint of the third edition, pl.XXIII and XXX.

² Sotheby’s, Mentmore: Volume Five, 21st May 1977, lot 1265; Christie’s London, 5th July 2018, lot 4.

³ Christie’s New York, 9th April 2003, lot 155.

⁴ C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, p.105, pl.177 (an armchair) and p.197, pl.358 (a sofa).

⁵ The suite later sold at Christie’s New York, 16th April 1996, lots 142 and 143.

⁶ Christie’s London, 20th May 2010, lot 85.

Christie’s New York, 21st October 2014, lot 10.

⁷ A. Keleny, ‘Sir Guy Millard: Diplomat who served during the Suez crisis’, The Independent, 11th June 2013. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-guy-millard-diplomat-who-served-during-the-suez-crisis-8654566.html> [accessed 17th June 2025]