Lot 405
VICTORIAN MAHOGANY AND BIRCH ASTRONOMER'S CHAIR
19TH CENTURY
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 5 April 2017 at 11:00 BST
Description
the reclined back and low seat on trestle leg supports, the leg bearing a pressed metal label 'W. CALLAGHAN, 23A NEW BOND STREET, REGISTERED JANUARY 15 1872'
Dimensions
34cm wide, 75cm high, 39cm deep
Footnote
The Collection of the late Allan Murray
Provenance:
Private collection, purchased Christie's, 27 September 2007, lot 305
Note: William Callaghan was an optician working in London in the second half of the 19th century who specialised in telescopes, barometers and other scientific instruments. It is thought these chairs were produced to be used with Callaghan's telescopes. There is some speculation that the label refers to the patent registration of designs for school furniture, rather than the registration of the design for this model. Whether the company made the furniture they designed is unknown. It is possible that production was sub-contracted, given the specialised technicalities of steam-bending wood. Another example bearing a Callaghan trade label, but with a patent registration date of 1873, is in the collection of the Victorian and Albert Museum.