A Set of Four George III Mahogany Side Chairs (c. 1765 English)

A set of four George III period mahogany side chairs, with a Chinese lattice back splat, after the designs of Robert Mainwaring.

Robert Manwaring was an English 18th century furniture designer and cabinet maker. A contemporary of Thomas Chippendale, and a considerable rival, some of his chairbacks are so nearly identical to Chippendale's that one feels sure that one copied from the other. Manwaring was a devotee of the Chinese taste, as seen in these chairs. He is recognised as having introduced the small bracket between the front rail of the seat and the top of the chair leg, this feature, as seen, is regarded as characteristic of his work. Manwaring described certain of his own work as "elegant and superb", and as possessing "grandeur and magnificence".

These chairs would work rather well with the supper table we have. Perhaps you are furnishing a new city apartment, the breakfast room in the townhouse or one of the drawing rooms in the house in the country. In any event a table laid for supper would look even more inviting framed by the wonderful backs of these chairs.