Harris Lindsay − Works of Art

Huon Mallalieu, in the The Times writes about the recent BADA Fair and our ebony chair which was exhibited there : ' ..It would be amusing to know what will be the farthest distance travelled by a visitor to the fair. In 1763 Horace Walpole wrote: "I believe I am the first man that ever went 60 miles to an auction. As I came for ebony, I have been up to my chin in ebony: there is literaly nothing but ebony in the house : all the other goods, if there were any, and  I trust my Lady Conyers did not sleep upon ebony mattresses, are taken away." In fact, the ebony furniture in that Hertfordshire country house, and others like it, was late 17th-century South Indian work. The fashion probably arrived in England via Portugal, with Charles II's Queen Catherine of Braganza. Harris Lindsay of Jermyn Street has just such a chair, formerly at Longleat- where Walpole had actually seen it in 1762. The chair is profusely carved: the deep pierced top-rail with asparas, winged creatures and birds, with twisted spindles and barley-sugar frame, and low-relief carved leafage on the legs.' ( The Times , 14th March 2014)

As a matte of interest, Horace Walpole's report of his visit to  Longleat is published in the sixteenth volume of The Walpole Society journal (1927-28) in which he writes : ' ..The Gallery has a table, setteee, and 24 chairs of ebony..' Therefore,  Walpole visited Longleat in 1762, saw the suite of ebony furniture, and , a year later, began to collect himself!