John Cobb

REF945

The chairs with fully upholstered backs and seats, covered in eighteenth century silk damask. The serpentine arms, moulded and carved with acanthus leaves and joining the serpentine frames similarly carved with asymmetrical leaves and cabochons and raised on cabriole legs with finely carved overlapping leaves, terminating in scrolled feet. Retaining their original blue and white decoration.

This stunning pair of blue and white painted arm chairs were originally made for Easton Neston House in Northamptonshire by Royal cabinet maker John Cobb. The chairs with serpentine rails and out swept arms stand beautifully on cabriole legs, with extraordinary details of carved decoration. Amazingly, the pair retains their original blue and white decoration, a most fashionable colour scheme at the time. This was covered in later gilding but meticulous and careful restoration uncovered the original painted blue and white surface, perfectly preserved beneath the later gilding. Its extraordinary to see the original surface now revealed and in such an amazing condition.

The pair forms part of a larger suite and were probably commissioned shortly after George 2nd Earl Pomfret’s marriage to Anna Maria Draycott in 1764, from the London firm of Royal cabinet-makers William Vile and John Cobb ( Vile,  the senior partner retired in 1764.) Their partnership seems to have started in 1751, at which time there appears to be a close connection with the cabinet-maker William Hallett. Recorded at the ‘Master’ of William Vile, who was supposedly a journeyman in Hallett’s employ, bank records indicate several large payments were made to him during the life of the partnership, possibly indicating that he had retained a financial interest in the firm. It is also interesting to note that, as recorded in her diary, William Hallett was visited by the 1st Countess of Pomfret in 1752.