A Pair of Regency Mahogany Uxbridge Library Reading Chairs, early 19th century, possibly by Gillows, the rectangular backs and reeded frames with removable cream upholstered squab cushions, turned baluster arm supports and turned legs with brass capped toes and castors, 64cm by 71cm by 94cm

Provenance: Delamere House, Cheshire

Thomas Chippendale the Younger (1749-1822) referred to caned chairs as hunting chairs. Also revered to as such by Thomas Sheraton in his Cabinet Dictionary of 1803, formed temporary resting place for one that is fatigued as hunters generally are. Other examples sometimes furnished with a reading slide or footrest. This particular chair, which is similar to a Gillows example, was formerly referred to as Ashburnham, while by 1807 it is referred to as an Uxbridge chair after one supplied to Henry Bayly, 1st Earl of Uxbridge