The gilded gesso decoration of these chairs is unusual, especially its use on the upright backs, suggesting that the chairs were rarely used. Like two of the tables shown on the opposite wall (cat. 118), they are thought to come from Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, but from an earlier phase of decoration. The raised gesso decoration which covers all surfaces is derived from late seventeenth-century and early eighteenth-century designs. Bought by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Cat. 119