12 Important John Gee 1779-1824 Original Regency Rosewood & Brass Dining Chairs

Description

Royal House Antiques

We are delighted to offer for sale this rare and important suite of twelve original John Gee 1779-1824 Regency bergère Rosewood with brass inlay dining chairs

Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price

Where to start, these are as rare as they come, an original suite of John Gee chairs and twelve no less! They have rosewood frames, brass inlaid and period bergère seats with later made removable cushions. I have included a brief history on John Gee below along with some of is later sales and so on

Most likely if you are a collector and follower of fine furniture, you would have seen this design many times before, these are the originals, where it all began, the first edition period pieces by one of the great cabinet makers of the late 18th to early 19th century. The craftsmanship is as fine as they come

In terms of the condition, they are all structurally sound, the finish is original and they haven’t been professionally restored so far as I can see. There are some small losses which is quite normal to the brass work and some punches to the bergère again consistent with age and use, they are after all, over 200 years old. We have deep cleaned hand condition waxed and hand polished them from top to bottom, I can have them fully, professionally restored for the cost price should the new owner wish, they can be made as gallery perfect as possible

X2 Carver dimensions

Height:- 84.5cm

Width:- 52cm

Depth:- 59cm

Seat height:- 45cm

X10 standard chair dimensions

Height:- 84.5cm

Width:- 46.5cm

Depth:- 53cm

Seat height:- 46cm 

Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point

Gee, John 49, Wardour Street, Soho, London; chair maker and turner (fl.1779–c.1824)

Also listed as Gee & Sons (1809) and Gee, Thomas Ayliffe (1804– 09)

In about 1779 John Gee replaced Thomas Ayliffe as partner to Benjamin Crompton, who had been Turner in Ordinary to George III since 1762. On 14 October 1787 Gee was sworn in as turner ‘jointly with Thos. Ayliffe his partner’, but his name, unlike Ayliffe’s, does not appear in the Court and City Register until 1799. Ayliffe was the fourth member of his family to be a turner to the King, so Gee was probably the junior partner.

In 1790 Lord Wilton bought chairs for the Music Room at Heaton Hall, Lancs. ‘2 June 1790 Aycliffe & Gees Bill for chairs etc. £49 8s.’. From 1799, when he is described as ‘Chair-maker, 49 Wardour Street, Soho’, Gee is listed in London directories.

In 1803 he is called ‘Chairmaker & Turner to His Majesty’ and this title occurs regularly in entries up to 1823; in most directories, however, this appointment is omitted. Gee is also included in the list of master cabinet makers attached to Sheraton’s Cabinet Dictionary, 1803. The last directory listing for Gee is 1823–24.

On 8 November 1804 Thomas Ayliffe Gee was appointed Turner in Ordinary to the King jointly with his father and briefly, in one directory of 1809 the firm is listed as ‘Gee & Sons, Turners & chair makers’. John Gee’s name is shown in the Court and City Register until 1831, well after his apparent retirement.

Charles Holme Bridges, who succeeded Gee at 49 Wardour St in 1824 received a royal warrant in 1822 but is first entered as a turner in the 1832 Register. Gee’s productions have been identified through stamped marks: ‘J GEE’, ‘GEE’, l GEE’, ‘Jn. G’ and a crown, J within G, and ‘GEE WARDOUR ST’ have been noted. Certain chairs are stamped with initials: ‘RR’, ‘GL’, ‘GH’, ‘IT’ and ‘WG’ have been noted. These are probably the marks of individual chairmakers in Gee’s employ.

His seems to have been a substantial undertaking. The following summary list records chairs by Gee in the order of their emergence:

Pride’s of London, 1962, 6 chairs, painted trophies on green and brown background, stamped ‘J GEE’. Bearne’s Sale Rooms, 1964, settee, 2 armchairs, 7 chairs, stamped ‘J GEE’; 8 chairs, brass inlay, stamped ‘J GEE’. Sotheby’s, London, 19 June 1970, lot 80, 4 chairs, simulated rosewood, gilt, stamped ‘GEE’ and ‘RR’; Sotheby’s, London, 23 October 1970, lot 170, 6 chairs, simulated rosewood and brass inlay, stamped ‘GEE’ and ‘GL’ (some only); Sotheby’s, London, 11 June 1971, lot 192, 2 armchairs, ebonised and gilt, stamped ‘GEE’; Christie’s, London, 20 January 1972, lot 64, 8 chairs, ebonised, stamped ‘I GEE’ and ‘GH’; Bearnes & Waycotts, 1974(?), armchair, painted. Christie’s, London, 31 October 1974, lot 98, 3 chairs, gilt, one branded ‘Jn. G’ twice with crown, the other two branded with crown, and with trade label of Copworth Bros. & Harrison, 22 Old Bond Street, Carpet & Cabinet Manufacturer to Her Majesty; Pride’s of London, 1975, 6 chairs, simulated rosewood and brass inlay. Temple Newsam House, Leeds, 1976, 2 armchairs, ebonised and painted, stamped J within G and ‘IT’. Mrs G. M. Douglas, Bath, 1978, 3 chairs, painted green, stamped ‘GEE WARDOUR ST’ and ‘WG’. Sotheby’s, London, 14 November 1979, lot 277, 2 chairs, painted with flowers, one stamped ‘GEE’. Private House, Monmouthshire, 1985, 8 chairs, ebonised, all stamped ‘GEE’ and ‘IT’, and 2 settees, en suite, both stamped ‘GEE’ and (?) ‘WP’. SOANE MUSEUM, 4 plain splat back chairs marked with incised J within a G and with further indistinct initials, possibly BE, FE or EE are illustrated in Gilbert (1996), figs 376-394.

Source: DEFM; Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840 (1996); Dorey, ‘Catalogue of the Furniture in Sir John Soane’s Museum’, Furniture History (2008).

Any questions please feel free to ask before you bid   

 

ABOUT US

Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating, along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on     

 

PAYMENTS

We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the purchase 

If sold items aren’t collected within three months and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the item and payment

 

CONDITION

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed

Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity  

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade   

 

DELIVERY OR COLLECTION

This item is available for collection from our Pulborough warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee

Please contact me via email, alternatively my contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France

Please be sure to include which item you would like to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the second and third item, for international shipping please view the below information   

  

COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED

We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances

Whomever delivers will always require help on the larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect the price to send a two-person team

Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you need help upstairs or in flats etc that’s absolutely not a problem, the couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee

All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior arrangement  

 

IMPORT DUTY

Most countries charge some kind of import duty however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt from tax due to the age and materials used

For European deliveries the price you will be quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so there won’t be any additional fees

For international deliveries such as the United States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for either

All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or factored in with additional retrospective discounts

 

RETURNS

Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy

We don’t offer a sale on approval service which means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer, perhaps look for a local gallery instead