Lot 343
CHRISTOPHER DRESSER (1834-1904) FOR THOMAS KNIGHT
CORNER CHAIR, CIRCA 1880
Auction: Day Two inc FL Griggs : A Cotswold Legacy | Lots 334 to 654 | Thursday 16th October from 10am
Description
carved mahogany, with close-nailed upholstered seat
Dimensions
53cm square, 104.5cm high
Footnote
Literature: Lyons H. Christopher Dresser: The People's Designer: 1834-1904, Woodbridge 2005, pp. 144-145, pls. 261 and 262 and pp. 150-151, pl. 272
Thomas Knight was a nationally recognised cabinetmaker whose work primarily reflected traditional designs, often associated today with the Victorian style. He exhibited at the London Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, receiving favourable mention from Christopher Dresser in his review of the latter.
The Knight archive, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, includes a page of sixteen chair illustrations indexed under the title “Dr Dresser’s chairs.” Within the archive, the sketches are recorded as “Dr Dresser’s designs.” The annotations on the sketches are numbered from 217 to 232, suggesting they represent design numbers within the Knight allocation, although this sequence usually consists of four digits. The sketch for this particular chair is numbered 272.
By 1883, Knight was recorded as a significant creditor of the Art Furnishers’ Alliance (AFA). Many of the chairs designed by Dresser and produced by Knight were later sold by Liberty & Co. as part of their Anglo-Moresque range. These chairs, including the present example, may originally have been intended for the AFA but were subsequently sold through Liberty & Co.