拍品专文
Ralph Edwards illustrates a virtually identical metamorphic armchair at Padworth House, Berkshire, in his Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 269, fig. 14, and dates that example to the 1730s. However, the overall proportions and the distictive, isolated rocaille carving of the toprail, indicate that that chair was probably made in Holland. Furthermore, a number of closely related examples, often called 'reisstoelen' or travelling chairs, appear in several old Dutch collections, which also suggests a Dutch rather than an English origin for this type of furniture.
A related example, with slightly more elaborate carving, is in the collection of the late Count of Rechteren Limpurg at Rechteren Castle, Overijssel (A. Berendsen, Het Nederlandse Interieur, Utrecht, 1950, p. 218, fig. 230) while a further example, virtually identical to the present chair, is in the Stichting Hannema-de Stuers Fundatie at Het Nijenhuis Castle, Overijssel, and is illustrated in A. van der Feltz, Kunstnijverheid Hannema-de Stuers Fundatie, Zwolle, 1980, p. 57, fig 123. Another closely related example is illustrated in C. de Jonge, Holländische Möbel und Raumkunst, The Hague, 1922, p. 218. A further closely related model with a portrait medallion to the top and covered in needlework, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Zurich, 10 December 1996, lot 260 (Sfr 34,500).
A related example, with slightly more elaborate carving, is in the collection of the late Count of Rechteren Limpurg at Rechteren Castle, Overijssel (A. Berendsen, Het Nederlandse Interieur, Utrecht, 1950, p. 218, fig. 230) while a further example, virtually identical to the present chair, is in the Stichting Hannema-de Stuers Fundatie at Het Nijenhuis Castle, Overijssel, and is illustrated in A. van der Feltz, Kunstnijverheid Hannema-de Stuers Fundatie, Zwolle, 1980, p. 57, fig 123. Another closely related example is illustrated in C. de Jonge, Holländische Möbel und Raumkunst, The Hague, 1922, p. 218. A further closely related model with a portrait medallion to the top and covered in needlework, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Zurich, 10 December 1996, lot 260 (Sfr 34,500).