Fine Matched Pair of Large Mahogany Carved Wing Chairs Based on the St Giles House Suite by William Vile c.1900

A Fine Matched Pair of large mahogany Carved Wing Chairs Based on the St Giles House Suite by William Vile, c.1900. These fine wing chairs, made c.1900, are of finely carved mahogany. They are a matched pair with slight differences between the two, but clearly from the same workshop. Although of c.1900 date, the fretwork on the aprons and the brackets are drawn from the famous St Giles House suite of chairs, made by William Vile in the mid 1750s. A Gainsborough chair from the suite in the V&A can be viewed online here. There is no record of Vile having supplied related wing chairs of this model and nor do any of the pieces in the Vile suite have stretchers. The maker of the present chairs, therefore, have clearly taken influence from the Vile suite, regarded as one of the great suites of English furniture, and then combined this with influence from other models. The fretwork stretchers on the present suite bring to mind the Newhailes suite of chairs. The guttae feet are also a very interesting choice decoratively-speaking. These fine chairs are much larger than the average model and the carving is exceptionally good. It is likely that they were produced by one of the London makers who combined trading in antiques with very good reproduction or other models inspired by past masterpieces. These makers included Gregory and Co, Gill and Reigate and Lenygon and Morant and they are certainly the leading candidates for the maker of the present pieces. Newly upholstered in our own workshops in quality leather which has been aged to match the fine surface of the mahogany.