A fine and rare pair of mahogany fluted oval back hall chairs, almost certainly by Ince and Mayhew,

England, circa 1770.

Why we like them

These rare and iconic hall chairs correspond almost exactly to other examples by the celebrated London firm of Ince and Mayhew. 

Attribution

These hall chairs are attributed to the pre-eminent London firm of John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (1737-1834) based on their similarity of design to a set of eight virtually identical but painted chairs that share the distinctive roundel and fluted seat-rail at Broadlands, Hampshire (H. Roberts, ‘The Ince and Mayhew Connection: Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire – I’, Country Life, 29 January 1981, p. 289, fig. 6). Although no furniture bills exist for Broadlands, they form part of a collection of furniture identified as by Mayhew & Ince, and were in the Great Hall from at least 1786, when they were listed in a household inventory (ibid., p. 288). 
Another set of eight similar hall chairs was almost certainly commissioned by George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton (d. 1836) for Peper Harow, Surrey, recorded in the 1851 inventory for the mansion, and photographed by Country Life in 1925, and again in 1956. Three pairs of these hall chairs sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 2004, lots 304, 305 and 306, and two pairs sold again, Christie's, London, 13 December 2018, lot 91 and lot 92.