

CHARLES BEVAN (1815-1891) Reclining Lounge Chair
circa 1865
for Gillow & Co., oak, stamped 'GILLOW & Co. LANCASTER', brass, fabric upholstery
height 37in (94cm) ; width 25 1/2in (65cm); depth 34in (86.5cm)
circa 1865
for Gillow & Co., oak, stamped 'GILLOW & Co. LANCASTER', brass, fabric upholstery
height 37in (94cm) ; width 25 1/2in (65cm); depth 34in (86.5cm)
Sold for US$2,040 inc. premium
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Benjamin Walker
Head of Dept.

Dan Tolson
International Director
CHARLES BEVAN (1815-1891)
circa 1865
for Gillow & Co., oak, stamped 'GILLOW & Co. LANCASTER', brass, fabric upholstery
height 37in (94cm) ; width 25 1/2in (65cm); depth 34in (86.5cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
H. Blairman & Sons Ltd, London
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above, 1997)
Literature
Jeremy Cooper, 'Victorian & Edwardian Furniture & Interiors', London, 1987, p. 113, fig. 267 (the model discussed)
H. Blairman & Sons Ltd, 'Gothic-Revival Furniture by Charles Bevan', London, 2006, n.p. (the model discussed)
H. Blairman & Sons Ltd., 'Furniture and Works of Art', London, 2019, pp. 5-6
A chair of this design was first advertised in the trade periodical 'The Building News' in August 1865. This chair, the advertisement claimed, "expands the chest and gives general ease and comfort to the body.... well adapted for clubhouses, hotels, and gentleman's libraries". The manufacture of the chair was stated to be 'only by Marsh and Jones', the Leeds makers responsible for supplying the furniture Bevan designed for mill-owner Titus Salt Jnr in November 1865. The Salt commission (now at Lotherton Hall, West Yorkshire) included 'A Wainscot Oak Registered Reclining Chair', was impressively rich and varied, and forms the basis of many subsequent Bevan furniture design attributions. Bevan's furniture was also made by Lamb of Manchester, who exhibited a bookcase designed by him at the 1867 Paris Exposition; and Gillow, who made two ebonised cabinets designed by Bevan that were bought in 1872 by the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A, accession nos. 412:4-1872 and 411:1, 2-1872).