Doe and Hope

Description

The large and good quality mahogany framed open armchair with a beautifully supple burgundy leather upholstered back and seat, being hobnailed, with flared prominently shaped arms to a serpentine shaped back and seat, the reverse being show-framed, to block legs and unifying stretcher, the whole surviving from the George III period and the private office of the late HSH Prince Rupert Loewenstein (1933-2014), the former Business Manager of the Rolling Stones.

The chair is lovely original untouched order making it hugely appealing. The leather is worn but appealingly so, now wonderfully supple with a couple of small teras as phtographed. The frame is in good order throughout with only minor scuffs and a good patina and colour. It proves a comfortable chair indeed, perfect for lounging, reading or watching.

Many rock groups from the 1960s fell by the wayside not for musical reasons, but because their finances were in chaos. It was Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who died aged 80, who ensured that this fate did not befall the Rolling Stones. Loewenstein, a Bavarian aristocrat and London-based merchant banker, began handling the group's accounts after being introduced to Mick Jagger in 1968 by the art dealer Christopher Gibbs. So effective was Loewenstein's financial stewardship that in 2005 the three original Rolling Stones – Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts – were earning £81.3m while paying tax at a mere 1.6%.

A stonkingly good chair with just about everything going for it.