The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.

Poor country house condition. Inevitable wear, marks and losses consistent with age and use.
Losses to decoration and gilding.
The gilding orignal.

Chair A: Chair back with various breaks, splice repairs and metal strapwork. Left and right arms loose with repaired breaks to left arm. Left side seat rail broken adjacent to front leg and right side seat rail broken adjacent to front rail as well. Original front corner braces. Now with sprung upholstery. Later paint work. The parcel gilding refreshed in areas.

Chair B ‘PH85’: Chair back with various breaks and splice repairs. Left arm upright broken adjacent to joint with arm. Both arms loose. Left side seat rail with large splices, repairs and breaks. Front seat rail with splice repair at left end and with metal strapwork securing break at right end. Now with sprung upholstery. Screw repairs to tops of both front legs.
Rubbing and chipping to carved detail and description to both notably to foliate carved knees.

DECORATION
These chairs were white and gold. A coat of chalk gesso was applied, then the flat areas were painted with a very thin coat of lead white oil paint and mouldings were water gilding over a dark brown clay. At some point the white areas were repainted, but the gilding was not touched. The paint was still based on lead white, indicating it was executed before the middle of the twentieth century. A later layer of brown glaze was applied over the gold and over areas where wear had exposed the wood. Finally, as we see today, a white paint containing titanium white was used in some areas over the earlier white. The use of titanium white means this done after circa 1950.