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  • Inference Rule: asEquivalentb3sb3sifpfacetshttp://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#ldpoplwebskos-transvirtrdf-labelvirtrdf-urlNone
    

This armchair is said to have come from the collection of Prince Demidoff in the Villa San Donato, Florence. It appears to be part of a set including eight armchairs and a sofa, was sold by Sotheby's, Bond Street, 9 December 1994, lots 213 to 216. They were identified as Roman because of similarites to a suite in the Villa Borghese but no reference was made to San Donato.. These were inspected by Christine Powell, gilding conservator at the V&A, who recorded that they were identical in all details. What appears to have been the same suite was sold by Sotheby's on 22 May 1987, lot 79. The armchair came to the Museum in 1973, after the loan of the suite (including the other chairs and sofa) was declined because of lack of space for exhibition. It was given by Mrs Henrietta Orbach Arram, via the dealer Geoffrey S. Howard (trading as 'Howard'), 8 Davies Street, London W.1. At that time it was believed to be Russian. Desmond Fitsgerald noted its similarity to a set of Italian chairs at Ickworth, Suffolk. Correspondence with Mr Howard (Nominal File: Howard, G. MA/1/H 3008) includes a letter from him saying that 'It was purchased in Russia by ancestors of the Countess of Wentworth who, I was told, had marriage and friendship ties with the famous Demidoff family in Leningrad and it is said to have come from the family there.' Subsequent correspondence noted that the suite had been in the Wentworth house at Sunningdale, sold in the 1930s, and that it had been retained by the Countess 'in a smaller house nearby'. Having been acquired by Mr Howard, and offered to Mrs Merryweather Post in Washington, it was sold to an American lady living in Paris and, after her death, Mr Howard was asked to dispose of the estate for the executors. Mr Howard confirmed that Mrs Henrietta Orbach Arram was a relation of his and for this reason he presented one chair in her honour. He mentions '8 chairs', so the presence of 8 in the 1994 sale suggests that one was made to complete the set after one was given to the V&A. A note on a letter from Mr Howard dated 24 December 1973 (possibly in his hand) records that 'another classical suite was sold in Paris last month at auction for 65,000 pounds plus charges.'