A George I carved and figured walnut corner or 'writing' armchair

circa 1725

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired by Colonel Norman R. Colville M.C., probably from Frank Partridge during the interwar period.
A.C.J. Wall Collection, Middleton Park, Oxon.

An exactly identical companion to the present lot, or possibly even the present armchair itself, is illustrated in R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, 1969, London, p. 137, fig. 81. The author, who defines it as a 'writing chair', dates its execution to circa 1720 and also notes it as forming part of Colonel N.R. Colville's collection at the time of the Dictionary's publication.

Edwards explains how this relatively rare form of chair, with three front legs and only one rear leg, was of a type predominantly produced during the first quarter of the 18th century. However, it is apparent that this 'writing chair' model clearly evolved into what came to be known as the 'corner chair' during the reign of George II. Essentially over the course of the second quarter of the 18th century the two flanking front legs were evidently moved to a different position so that all four legs were then evenly spread out and each leg was secured to a corner point of the seat.

Barely any information is available about Colonel Norman Colville other than the fact that he appears to have acquired an excellent collection of Georgian furniture over the course of the interwar period. However, A.C.J. Wall, who was a successful business man born in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, amassed a significant collection of English 18th century furniture in conjunction with an impressive array of ceramics, gold boxes, silver, painting, works of art and Chinese porcelain. Wall housed his collection at Middleton Park, in Oxfordshire, which was the home he bought in 1946.

Middleton Park
During the 17th century a castle, which had in fact been built in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154) within the proximity of the current Middleton Park, was purchased by John Harman of Taynton. John Harman's son then oversaw the construction of a mansion on the present day site of Middleton. Subsequently one of his descendants, called Edmund Denton, sold the property in 1711 to the Honourable Henry Boyle, who was a cousin to the renowned Earl of Burlington.

After various other owners and architectural alterations, including a period during the mid-18th century when Middleton Park was under the tenure of William Villiers, the 3rd Earl of Jersey, the 19th century version of the house with its stone facade was ultimately demolished in the early 20th century. Following that, the celebrated architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was responsible for the building which still stands at Middleton today. Lutyens, who both designed and oversaw the construction of the current house during the period 1934-8, seemingly modelled it on great classical architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries, very much in keeping with the contents of its interior.