This chair and five others from the set (W.22 to E-1922) were given by Douglas Eyre, 1922 (see Registered File 22/2658). At that time the chairs were described as 'English'.
The armorial crest in the back panel appears to be the crest of the Eyre family of Eyrecourt Castle, Co. Galway, Ireland. The heraldic description of it is 'a leg in armour couped at the thigh proper, garnised and spurred in gold'. David Jones was the first to suggest that these chairs were Irish, in 1983 but it should be noted that the same crest was used by the Earl of Newburgh in the peerage of Scotland (created 1660). Records of Eyrecourt Castle suggest that the building was in disputed ownership in the middle of the eighteenth century, so it seems unlikely that new furnishings were being commissioned, although various members of the family had other properties in Ireland at the time and the chairs may originate from those properties. More work is needed on the history of the chairs. There was also a prominent Eyre family in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century and pieces of their furniture appear on the market from time to time (e.g. Christie's New York 16 January 199, lot 592). The design of their furniture is markedly more sophisticated that this piece, although most are of a similar date.
For similarities in chair back see<i> 'Irish Furniture'</i>, The Knight of Glin and James Peill, p. 213, fig. 38.
ecrm:P3_has_note
This chair and five others from the set (W.22 to E-1922) were given by Douglas Eyre, 1922 (see Registered File 22/2658). At that time the chairs were described as 'English'.
The armorial crest in the back panel appears to be the crest of the Eyre family of Eyrecourt Castle, Co. Galway, Ireland. The heraldic description of it is 'a leg in armour couped at the thigh proper, garnised and spurred in gold'. David Jones was the first to suggest that these chairs were Irish, in 1983 but it should be noted that the same crest was used by the Earl of Newburgh in the peerage of Scotland (created 1660). Records of Eyrecourt Castle suggest that the building was in disputed ownership in the middle of the eighteenth century, so it seems unlikely that new furnishings were being commissioned, although various members of the family had other properties in Ireland at the time and the chairs may originate from those properties. More work is needed on the history of the chairs. There was also a prominent Eyre family in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century and pieces of their furniture appear on the market from time to time (e.g. Christie's New York 16 January 199, lot 592). The design of their furniture is markedly more sophisticated that this piece, although most are of a similar date.
For similarities in chair back see<i> 'Irish Furniture'</i>, The Knight of Glin and James Peill, p. 213, fig. 38.