George III Mahogany Cockpen Armchair • £895.00

George III Mahogany Cockpen Armchair • £895.00

George III mahogany ‘Cockpen’ Chinese lattice back armchair of broad proportions.

Scottish, c. 1770-1840.

Generously proportioned open armchair, having the square lattice back with unusual ball motif, above the original upholstered saddle seat on elm frame, raised on moulded splayed legs, united by turned H-stretcher, with charming ticket still intact on webbing reading ‘Mrs Paton, Lochgelly’.

This chair is a typical example of the ‘Chinese’ fashion for furniture, popular in the 18th century. The lattice back derives from the patterns published in W. Halfpenny’s ‘Twenty New Designs of Chinese Lattice’ (1750). The origin of this characteristically Scottish ‘cockpen’ chair relates to the village of Cockpen in Midlothian: the family pew of the Earls and Marquesses of Dalhousie in Cockpen church used to contain examples of this form of chair.