GREAT PROVENANCES

MACKINNON FINE FURNITURE

GREAT PROVENANCES Exceptional Antiques from Notable Collections

Mackinnon Fine Furniture 5 Ryder Street St James's London SW1Y 6PY Telephone: +44 (0)20 7839 5671 | Mobile: +44 (0)7725 332 665 | Email: charlie@mackinnonfineart.com

www.mackinnonfineart.com

INTRODUCTION Great antique furniture speaks for itself in its fluidity of design, quality of materials, and patina gathered over time. But the story behind a specific piece can also greatly enhance the value and our understanding of the work. Just as we seek to attribute a piece of furniture to a specific cabinetmaker, we also look to trace the provenance through the history of ownership. Identifying the original owner who commissioned a piece of furniture tells us a great deal about the original context of the design, original home, and contemporary taste. Provenance is a continual source of fascination for us as dealers as well as for the modern collector.

Sometimes overlooked but often equally interesting is identifying the owners of a piece in the years after it has left its original source. Great collections have been formed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by collectors who saw these pieces as we do today. How they too came to own them – these ‘modern’ provenances – is part of the rich tapestry of a single piece of furniture’s story.

With celebrated names including Hagley, Stowe, Warwick, Chrysler, Untermyer, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the catalogue features pieces of furniture and decorative objects of magnificent quality that can all be linked to a historic collector or collection, several of which have passed through the hands of more than one notable collection over time.

We are delighted to bring together such a varied and rare selection of furniture from this time that have such rich histories, and have made some exciting discoveries in the process.

Charlie Mackinnon Mackinnon Fine Furniture

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CONTENTS

ANNE BASSET ! HALDON HOUSE

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LONGFORD CASTLE

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VISCOUNT ULLSWATER ! CAMPSEA ASHE • HORLICK

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WARWICK CASTLE

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THE EARLS OF LOVELACE

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THE EARLS OF DYSART ! HAM HOUSE

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HANBURY HALL • UPTON HOUSE

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THE EARLS OF LOVELACE

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HIGHCLERE CASTLE

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HRH PRINCE FREDERICK LEWIS, PRINCE OF WALES

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THE DUKES OF INFANTADO ! LAZCANO PALACE

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THE EARLS OF PEMBROKE ! WILTON

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NEWHAILES

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CLIVE OF INDIA

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HAGLEY HALL

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STOWE

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THE MARQUESS OF CREWE

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THE IONIDES COLLECTION ! BUXTED PARK

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SIR HENRY PRICE ! WAKEHURST PLACE

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THE LORDS ASHCOMBE ! SUDELEY CASTLE

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JUDGE IRWIN UNTERMYER

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CRIMONMOGATE

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THE EARLS OF LONSDALE

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SALTRAM

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ANN BASSET • HALDON HOUSE

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY HALL CHAIR Attributed to William Hallett England, circa 1755 A very fine George II mahogany armorial hall chair attributed to William Hallett.

The scallop-shaped, rippled, and paperscrolled back centred with the coat of arms of Anne Basset framed in an elaborate cartouche decorated with scrolls, lambrequins, and a carved cherub’s mask.

The outswept scrolled arms on spreading supports flanking a solid shell-carved seat, raised on shaped cabriole legs united by a moulded stretcher.

Height: 35½ in (98 cm) Width: 23¾ in (63 cm) Depth: 23¾ in (63 cm)

Provenance Presumably supplied to Anne Basset (1718-1760), née Prideaux, for Haldon House, Devon Comparative Literature P. Dodds, ‘Building Country Houses on Cornish Estates 1730–1830,’ Paper for Cornish History Network Conference (2002).

J. L. Caw, ‘Allan Ramsay: Portrait Painter,’ Walpole Society XXV 1937, p. 47.

A. Smart, Allan Ramsay: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, Yale, 1999, no. 40, fig. 258.

This superb armchair is emblazoned with the arms of Anne Basset (1718-1760), the daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Prideaux, 5th Baronet of Netherton (16751729), widow of John Pendarves Basset (1713-1739), and mother of John Prideaux Basset (1740-1756) of Tehidy Park, Cornwall. The Bassets, one of the most powerful families in Cornwall, made their fortune from mining local tin and copper.

The arms are presented on a lozenge, which indicates that they represent a widow. The small central shield (representing Prideaux: Argent, a chevron sable in chief a label of three points gules), known as an escutcheon of pretence, is placed on the husband’s shield (representing Basset: Barry wavy of six, or and gules) in this way when the wife is a heraldic heiress. In this case it would suggest that Anne had no brothers, or if she did, they had no issue, so that she could be said to represent her father’s family.

Haldon House, Devon. Matthew Beckett/Lost Heritage (www.lostheritage.org.uk).

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Anne Basset Prideaux John Pendarves Basset (1713-1739) came from a family of Norman settlers in England. He married Anne Prideaux (1718-1760), daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Prideaux, 5th Baronet of Netherton, in 1737. Three years earlier John had commissioned Thomas Edwards of Greenwich to build a new mansion house, Tehidy Park, in the neo-Palladian manner. When John passed away in 1739, his brother Francis Basset (1714-1769) continued the work on the house. It soon became apparent that Anne was pregnant with the posthumous son of her husband, so Francis oversaw the works to place the property in trust for his nephew. Tehidy was completed by 1740, the same year in which John Prideaux Basset (1740-1756), heir to the Prideaux and Basset families, was born.

A portrait of John Prideaux Basset by Allan Ramsay (1713-84), dating to circa 1747-48, shows the young heir in dress designed to recall Van Dyck’s portraits of the young Charles II (sold Christie’s London, 10 June 2003, lot 34).

At Tehidy Park, Francis sought to cement his position as the new lord of the manor and celebrate his recent marriage to Margaret St. Aubyn by commissioning an extravagant suite of two settees and ten hall armchairs (a pair from this set was sold Christie’s New York, 18 October 2005, lot 450, realised $284,800). Both the Tehidy Park suite and the present chair feature backs and seats in the form of shells and are supported on frames and legs of the same profile.

Upon moving to Haldon House, it is entirely plausible that Anne would have commissioned a suite of seat furniture amongst other furnishings for her new home. Being a wealthy widow as well as an heiress of two powerful families, Anne Basset would have wanted to celebrate her status in society, and what better way to do this than to commission furnishings that proudly displayed her coat of arms. It is quite possible that both Francis and Anne ordered suites from the same workshops at the same time, or one commission was influenced by the other.

Anne Basset died in 1760.

Sadly, John Prideaux Basset died on May 28th 1756 at the young age of sixteen, and Tehidy Park passed back to his uncle Francis Basset. After her son’s death, Anne Basset left Tehidy and settled at Haldon House, Devon, which she purchased from Sir John Chichester in 1758. Considered one of the finest houses in the county, Haldon was modelled after London’s Buckingham House.

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Thomas Chippendale The present chair, and the larger suite of chairs from Tehidy, both relate to a design illustrated in the third edition of Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director (pl. XXIV, fig. C), which shows an open armchair with a similar back and seat both carved in the form of a shell.

Chippendale notes that this design is ‘proper for Grottos,’ as well as for ‘Halls, Passages, or Summer-Houses.’ As can be seen on the construction of the present armchair, he states, ‘The backs may be cut out of the solid Board, and fixed on the Back Edges of the Seats.’ The elegant S-shaped profile and form of the front legs of the present example appear on plate XVII of the Director.

William Hallett The present chair and the Tehidy Park suite bear strong similarities in design, construction, and quality of carving to a set of six padouk side chairs and two armchairs supplied to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (1711-1771) for St Giles, Dorset and most likely emanate from the same workshop. All of these chairs have distinctive paper-scroll bases to the backs and share a closely related design for the arms and the same pattern and construction of the front and back legs and stretchers, differing only slightly in the profusion of decoration.

Although the maker of the St Giles chairs is uncertain, it is known that William Hallett (1707-1781), one of London’s most fashionable cabinetmakers of the day, supplied large quantities of furniture to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury between 1745 and 1752.

The Hall of Tehidy Park, Devon showing the related suite in situ. Matthew Beckett/Lost Heritage (www.lostheritage.org.uk).

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LONGFORD CASTLE

A PAIR OF GEORGE II GILTWOOD PEDESTALS Attributed to Benjamin Goodison England, circa 1737-43 An outstanding and highly important pair of George II carved giltwood and giltgesso pedestals attributed to Benjamin Goodison. Each square top with a giltgesso carved foliate spray and cartouche border above a swag-draped oak leaf frieze, the tapering pedestals with sanded panels mounted with ribbon-tied fruit and floral sprays, the sides with C-scrolls and acanthus, and standing on plinth bases.

Retaining their original gilding.

Height: 53½ in (136 cm) Width: 13 in (33 cm) Depth: 13 in (33 cm)

Provenance The pair, originally from a set of six, presumably supplied by Benjamin Goodison to Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (1694-1761) for Longford Castle, Wiltshire, between 1737 and 1743 With Christopher Gibbs, London, 1979, as ‘ascribed to Benjamin Goodison, from Longford Castle’ Private Collection, USA The other four pedestals remain in the collection of the Earl of Radnor at Longford Castle, Wiltshire.

Literature C. Hussey, ‘For the Connoisseur: Furniture at Longford Castle-I’, Country Life, 12 December 1931, p. 682, fig. 8.

C. Hussey, ‘Longford Castle-II’, Country Life, 19 December 1931, p. 699, fig. 7.

J. Cornforth, ‘Longford and the Bouveries’, Country Life Annual, London, 1968, fig. 13 & fig. 14.

A. Smith, Acquisition, Patronage and Display: Contextualising the art collections of Longford Castle during the long eighteenth century.

Doctoral Thesis, Birkbeck, University of London, 2017.

A. Smith, Longford Castle: The Treasures and the Collection, London, 2017, fig. 26 & 28.

P. Macquoid, History of English Furniture, vol. III, p. 77.

John Buckler & John Chessell Buckler, West Front of Longford Castle, Wiltshire. Yale Center for British Art. 10

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Longford Castle Situated on the banks of the River Avon near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Longford Castle was originally built in the late 16th century for Sir Thomas Gorges (1536-1610), courtier to Queen Elizabeth I, by the architect John Thorpe (1565-1655). The structure was built in the form of a triangle with three round towers, which gave it the appearance of a feudal castle. It is possible that the three towers, which are labelled in contemporary plans of the house as Pater, Filius, and Spiritus, were meant to represent the Holy Trinity.

The castle became the residence of Sir Edward des Bouverie (1688-1736) in 1717.

According to legend, Sir Edward was riding past the castle and fell in love with it, and having enough money in his saddle bags he purchased the property on the spot. The des Bouverie family was descended from a Huguenot silk weaver, Laurens des Bouverie (1536-1610), who had fled from religious persecution during the Reformation and settled in London.

Sir Edward was part of the City of London merchants.

Sir Edward’s brother, Sir Jacob des Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (16941761), succeeded the title in 1736 and set out to alter the castle and the grounds. He created a new two-storey Palladian entrance hall around 1740, transformed the old Winter Parlour in the east tower into a library, and converted the Matted Gallery into the Picture Gallery. Sir Jacob sought the advice of several notable architects of the time, including Roger Morris, who worked at Wilton, and John Wood the Elder or John Wood the Younger, both of whom were influential in shaping the architecture of Bath throughout the 18th century.

In addition to the architectural work, Sir Jacob focused his efforts on the interiors.

He commissioned some of the finest cabinetmakers of the time, including Benjamin Goodison, William Hallett, William Vile and John Cobb, William Bradshaw, William Ince and John Mayhew, and Thomas Chippendale. Longford has also been home over the centuries to fabulous old master paintings including works by Holbein, Claude, and Velazquez.

Benjamin Goodison These pedestals were likely commissioned for the Picture Gallery and can be confidently attributed to Benjamin Goodison (1700-1767). Goodison is mentioned frequently in Sir Jacob’s House Book, which provides an itemised list of his household and personal expenses between 1723 and 1745. Goodison received numerous large payments for significant commissions that totaled a sum of £872.11.6 between 1737 and 1743.

The pedestals echo the motifs seen throughout the rest of the house with classical designs including acorns and oak leaves. The oak leaf motif serves as a symbol of longevity, endurance, strength, and success from humble beginnings. Sir Jacob was also known as a great treeplanter. A magnificent table supplied by Goodison for Longford, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, is also carved with oak leaves.

Percy Macquoid described the pedestals as ‘contemporary with specimens at Houghton, but altogether superior in style.’

The remaining four pedestals can still be seen today in the Picture Gallery.

The Picture Gallery at Longford Castle, Wiltshire showing two of the pedestals in situ. Country Life Picture Library.

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VISCOUNT ULLSWATER • CAMPSEA ASHE SIR JAMES HORLICK

A GEORGE I PARCEL GILT WALNUT SECRETAIRE CABINET In the manner of Samuel Bennet England, circa 1720 A very fine George I ormolu-mounted parcel-gilt walnut secretaire-cabinet in the manner of Samuel Bennet. The upper section with a giltwood swan-neck cresting centred with a foliate carved giltwood cartouche above a mirrored door flanked by fluted pilasters, one of which conceals the keyhole, the door opening to reveal two adjustable bookshelves above three short drawers, the lower bombé section fitted with a pull-out secretaire-drawer above three graduated drawers, standing on bracket feet. Each drawer fitted with its magnificent original finely chased elaborate gilt-brass escutcheons and handles.

Provenance James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater (1855-1949), Campsea Ashe High House, Suffolk Presumably Garrod, Turner & Son, The Contents of High House, 24-31 October 1949 Sir James Horlick, 4th Baronet (1886-1972), Achamore House, Isle of Gigha Thence by descent

Comparative Literature R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. I, 1986, p. 136, fig. 30.

Victoria & Albert Museum: Fifty Masterpieces of Woodwork, London, 1955, no. 36.

H. Cescinsky and E. Gribble, Early English Furniture and Woodwork, London, 1992, vol.

II, pp. 284-285, figs. 387 & 388.

Literature L. G. G. Ramsay, ‘Chinoiserie in the Western Isles, The Collection of Sir James and Lady Horlick,’ The Connoisseur, June 1958, p. 4, fig. 6.

Height: 96 in (244 cm) Width: 40 in (101.5 cm) Depth: 21 in (51 cm)

Campsea Ashe High House, Suffolk. Matthew Beckett/Lost Heritage (www.lostheritage.org.uk).

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The Form & Decoration This exceptional cabinet bears close resemblance to the work of Samuel Bennet (c.1700-1741) in its form and decorative features. A cabinet by Bennet at the Victoria & Albert Museum features elaborate gilt decoration and a finial with a broken swan neck pediment to the top, similar to the present example. The Victoria & Albert example also features fluted pilasters in the Doric order, while the pilasters of the present cabinet feature gilded Corinthian capitals.

A second cabinet illustrated in R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture similarly features the bombé form of this cabinet (vol. I, p. 136, fig. 30). A further cabinet is illustrated in H. Cescinsky and E. Gribble, Early English Furniture and Woodwork.

Campsea Ashe High House The Hon. William Lowther (1821-1912) acquired Campsea Ashe High House, Suffolk in the 1880s for the impressive sum of £105,000. After a fire in 1865, the house had been re-built by the architect Anthony Salvin (1799-1881), who sought to retain the original Georgian features of the house.

Lowther’s son, James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater (1855-1949), inherited Campsea Ashe and revived the interiors and the garden. He took a keen interest in the arts and served as a Trustee of the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. The contents of the house were sold after his death in 1949.

Sir James Horlick The cabinet was presumably purchased by Sir James Horlick, 4th Baronet (1866-1972) in the 1949 sale of the contents of Campsea Ashe High House. Horlick was a renowned collector and noted connoisseur who acquired many exceptional pieces for his home, Achamore House, on the Isle of Gigha in the Scottish Western Isles, including wonderful Chinese reverse painted mirror pictures and the superlative lacquer commode supplied to Harewood House by Thomas Chippendale. Horlick’s collection of English japanned furniture from the eighteenth century was particularly notable and became the subject of an article in the Connoisseur entitled, ‘Chinoiserie in the Western Isles, the Collection of Sir James and Lady Horlick’ (June 1958). In addition to the chinoiserie collection, Horlick also amassed an impressive collection of eighteenth century walnut furniture, including this wonderful secretaire cabinet.

Sir James Horlick, 4th Baronet by Bassano Ltd. National Portrait Gallery.

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WARWICK CASTLE

THE WARWICK CASTLE ARMCHAIRS Attributed to John Hodson England, circa 1740-45 A highly important pair of George II mahogany armchairs attributed to John Hodson. The serpentine backs, seats and armrests upholstered in their original early 18th century ‘Genoese’ polychrome silk velvet, the scrolled arms carved with leaf and shell motifs, standing on superb carved cabriole legs terminating in pad feet, on castors. The seats retaining the original webbing. The mahogany carving of exceptional quality.

Height: 43¾ in (111 cm) Width: 28¾ in (73 cm) Depth: 28¾ in (73 cm) Photographed in situ in the Cedar Room at Warwick Castle.

Provenance Presumably Francis Greville, 8th Baron Brooke, 1st Earl Brooke, and 1st Earl of Warwick (1719-1773) for Warwick Castle Thence by descent at Warwick Castle Private Collection, UK Comparative Literature A. Coleridge, ‘John Hodson and Some Cabinet-Makers at Blair Castle,’ The Connoisseur, April 1963, vol. 152, no. 614, pp. 223230.

S. Pryke, ‘The Extraordinary Billhead of Francis Brodie,’ Regional Furniture, vol. 4, 1990. pp. 81-99.

P. Thornton, Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England France and Holland, Yale University Press, 1978, ch. V, The Upholsterer’s Materials, pp. 107-120.

G. Beard, Upholsterers & Interior Furnishing in England 1530-1840, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 203.

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The Warwick Castle Inventories This magnificent pair of chairs appears to have originally formed part of a larger set of twelve armchairs, three stools, and possibly two settees. The chairs are first mentioned in the 1756 inventory of Warwick Castle in the Cedar Drawing Room as ‘12 Arm’d chairs of cut velvet’ (Warwick County Records Office 1886 TN926).

The chairs appear again in the Warwick inventories of 1809 , 1853 and 1894. They are also recorded in an 1815 etching of the Cedar Room by John Coney, a 1844 lithograph, the Christie’s inventories of 1907, 1928, and 1961, and the 1924 ‘Schedule of articles at Warwick Castle which are of national or historical interest,’ p.14 (WCRO).

Warwick Castle and the Commission The suite of State Rooms at Warwick Castle, including the Red Drawing Room, the Cedar Drawing Room, the Green Drawing Room, the Queen Anne Bedroom, and the Blue Boudoir, were originally created by Robert Greville, 4th Baron Brooke (1638-1677).

These highly important chairs were almost certainly commissioned by Francis, 8th Baron Brooke (1719-1773), who was created 1st Earl Brooke of Warwick Castle in 1746 and 1st Earl of Warwick in 1759.

In 1742 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton, younger brother of William, Duke of Hamilton, and sister of Sir William Hamilton. Sir William was one of the great cognoscenti of his age and George III’s ambassador to the Court of Naples and husband of Emma, the mistress of Horatio Nelson.

Canaletto, Warwick Castle, circa 1748-49. Yale Center for British Art. 20

The style of the armchairs corresponds closely to the date of this marriage, an event which inevitably occasioned changes to the decoration of the State Rooms at Warwick, including the provision of the latest fashionable taste in furnishings and fabrics.

The vast expense of such quantities of imported silk velvet, let alone the quality of the carved frames, highlights the importance of this particular commission.

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The Attribution to John Hodson Thanks to archival research of the original account books of the Greville family, we are delighted that it is now possible, for the first time, to attribute the chairs to the highly regarded, albeit largely unsung, London cabinet-maker John Hodson (1709-1786).

John Hodson came from a family of cabinetmakers, including his father, Robert Hodson, who operated in Frith Street, Soho from 1723 until 1786. The Hodson firm’s trade label features illustrations of a variety of furniture, all stylistically in keeping with the present chairs.

John Hodson received numerous notable commissions throughout his career from leading members of the aristocracy. In particular, he is known to have supplied mahogany tables, at a cost of £44, to the Earl of Leicester for Holkham Hall, Norfolk, a tripod table, mahogany claw table, painted side table, and wine cooler to the 2nd Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle for £150 1s 6d, and a mahogany dining table to Sir Herbert Pakington of Westwood Park, Worcestershire for £3 10s.

The Greville family accounts at Hoare’s Bank for the period in question list John Hodson as the principal documented cabinetmaker employed by Lord Brooke at Warwick with very significant amounts being settled over a lengthy period of time.

In particular, reference can be made to payments to Hodson of £443 3s 3d on 5 Jan 1742 (the year of the marriage), £540 on 9 April 1743, and £300 in 1746.

The ‘neat-mahogany cistern’ supplied to the 2nd Duke of Atholl for Blair Castle in 1738 is of particular interest. This documented piece allows a closely related identifiable group of similar wine-coolers to also be attributed to Hodson. The carving to the frieze of one of these winecoolers, previously with Hotspur Ltd., is identical in form to that on the legs of the present chairs.

Stylistic affinities between the present chairs and other pieces either known to be by or attributed to John Hodson, together with the significant payments in the Brooke accounts, do allow for a firm attribution to be made.

The Upholstery The ‘Genoese’ polychrome silk panels, circa 1740, used to upholster these chairs, are Italian in origin and were highly prized luxuries affordable to only the very wealthy.

The term ‘Genoa velvet’ became the generic term for all Italian velvets (velluti) from the Renaissance until the 18th century, irrespective of where they were actually made. The principal centres of production were Genoa, Venice, and Milan, as well as small cities such as Modena.

The woven velvets and silk brocades were produced in narrow widths, which when used to upholster wider chairs, as is the case here, resulted in joining panels. The velvet typically featured a large patterned design in one or several colours in silk pile against a plain or satin ground. The chairs retain their original silk velvet covers, which have been painstakingly re-backed to preserve them as intended.

We are grateful to Adam Busiakiewicz for his kind assistance in the cataloguing of these chairs.

Francis Bedford, Warwick Castle, the Cedar Drawing Room, No.1, circa 1860-70 showing the chairs in situ. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

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THE EARLS OF LOVELACE

A GEORGE II GILTWOOD TABLE In the manner of William Kent England, circa 1730 An exceptional George II carved giltwood table in the manner of William Kent. The table with a boldly gadrooned edge above a central mask flanked by scrolling acanthus leaves and trailing harebells, with swags of carved flowers, and standing on carved cabriole legs surmounted by superbly carved shells and stylised flowers and foliage which terminate in magnificent ball and claw feet, with a later Portoro Nero marble top.

Provenance The Earls of Lovelace, presumably Ockham Park, Surrey and later Horsley Towers, Surrey

Height: 34½ in (88 cm) Width: 43¾ in (111 cm) Depth: 24¾ in (63 cm)

Horsley Towers, Surrey. ©The Francis Frith Collection.

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Comparative Literature C. Gilbert, ‘The Temple Newsam Furniture Bills,’ Furniture History, vol. 3, 1967, pp. 16-28.

J. Vardy, Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. William Kent, 1744, pl. 41.

W. Jones, The Gentleman or Builder’s Companion, 1739, pl. 28 & 30.

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William Kent & William Jones The table reflects the influence of William Kent (1685-1748) and his circle with its inclusion of Palladian motifs, including the central mask and draped floral garlands. A drawing by Kent in the Victoria & Albert Museum shows his design for a side table at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, which was published in John Vardy’s Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. William Kent (1744, pl. 41).

This design features a prominent central carved mask and dramatic floral swags.

The present table also shares a particularly close affinity to the designs of William Jones as seen in his 1739 publication, The Gentleman or Builder’s Companion, for ‘Frames to Tables’ (pl. 28, 30). These designs include the distinctive use of the carved mask on the central frieze combined with draped garlands and acanthus scrolls. It is notable that the present table features shell carved cabriole legs and ball and claw feet, whereas most of the designs show the scrolled canted legs and feet. These design features might align this piece with the slightly later designers of the George II era, including Matthias Lock, who incorporated dramatically carved ball and claw feet on a number of designs.

The stands for a pair of cabinets, on display at Temple Newsam, bear strong resemblance to overall design of the present table. It is thought that these were installed at Temple Newsam by the Honorable Charles Ingram (1727-1778) and his bride Frances Shepherd (1733-1807) after their marriage in 1758. The 1808 Temple Newsam Inventory records the cabinets as being in the Breakfast Parlour. Although there is no record of their original invoice, there is a charge of £9 on November 7 1758 to Richard Kerby, cabinetmaker, Sackville Street, London for ‘New Gilding 2 Rich Carv’d frames for cabinets in the Best Burnish’d Gold.’ The stands of these cabinets similarly date to the 1730s.

However, the construction of the Temple Newsam pair is notably different than the present example which has a much sturdier frame to presumably allow for the weight of a substantial marble top.

The Earls of Lovelace Peter King, 1st Baron King (1669-1734) of Exeter, Devon had an illustrious legal career and served as Lord Chancellor from 1725 to 1733. He married Anne Seys, daughter of Richard Seys of Boverton, Glamorganshire in 1704 and purchased Ockham Park, Surrey, in 1710 to serve as the family seat. George I granted King the title 1st Lord King, Baron of Ockham in 1725. Through successive generations, the family had acquired Ashley Combe and Meyners in Somerset and Yarty House, Devon by the early 19th century.

William King-Noel, 8th Baron King (18051893), married August Ada Byron, the only legitimate daughter of the renowned poet George Byron, which brought the promise of vast estates in the Midlands. In 1838, William became the 1st Earl of Lovelace as part of the elevations made to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria. William’s wife Ada was a descendant of the Barons Lovelace of Hurley through her connection to the families of Byron, Milbanke, Noel, and Lovelace.

In 1840, William bought the East Horsley Estate in Surrey along with a great deal of land and houses in the surrounding area.

The house was originally built in 1828 by the famed architect Charles Barry (17951860) under the instruction of William Currie, a London banker, in the Tudor style. William King-Noel refashioned the building in the Victorian Gothic style and renamed the property Horsley Towers after he had incorporated a stuccoed tower and banqueting hall.

William Jones, ‘Designs for Frames for Tables,’ The Gentlemens or Builders Companion, 1739, pl. 28.

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THE EARLS OF DYSART • HAM HOUSE

A GEORGE II SILVER SOUP TUREEN FROM THE DYSART SERVICE Mark of Paul Crespin, London, 1736

A superb George II silver soup tureen with the mark of Paul Crespin. The tureen of oval bombé form and standing on four mask and rocaille-capped reeded scroll feet, with angular scroll handles issuing from applied foliage and rocaille terminals, the detachable domed stepped cover with similar handle, the tureen engraved twice with a coat of arms, the cover engraved twice with a crest, each below an earl’s coronet.

The arms are those of Tollemache quartering Joyce, Stanhope, Murray and Wilbraham, for Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart K.T. (1708-1770).

Provenance Presumably the ‘Terrine’ supplied by ‘[Paul] Crespin Sylver- Smith’ for £70 to Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart (1708-1770), Ham House, Richmond By descent in the Tollemache family, Ham House, removed from Ham House prior to being taken over by the National Trust, 1948 By direction of Sir Lyonel Tollemache 5th Bt., Important Antique Silver, Originally the Property of the Fourth Earl of Dysart Removed from Ham House, Richmond, Surrey, J. Trevor & Sons, London, 12 May 1955, lot 48

Literature Buckminster Park Archives Mss. 929, Lyonel Tollemache’s Account Book, 1733/4-1743, ‘to Crespin Sylver-Smith (for a Terrine)/ a bill on Child for /Threescore & Ten Pounds/ 70.’

An inventory of the Furniture, Plate, Linen, China, Books, Pictures, Prints, and Farming Implements at Ham House, in Surrey, 1844, folio 82, ‘A handsome silver tureen...’

T. Murdoch, ‘From the Gate to the Hearth: Metalwork at Ham House’, in C. Rowell ed., Ham House, 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, London, 2013, p. 240.

Overall width: 16¾ in (42.5 cm) 141 oz. 8 dwt (4,400 gr.)

Lionel Tollemache = Lady Grace Carteret 4th Earl of Dysart (1708-70) (1713-55)

Louisa = John Manners Jane = (1) John Halliday Lionel Tollemache = (1) Charlotte Walpole Francis Wilbraham Tollemache = Anna Maria Lewis John = Lady Bridget (1738-89) (1738-1807) 6th Earl of Dysart (1754-1804) (1744-77) Lane Fox Countess of Dysart (1730-1792) (1752-1802) (2) George Ferry 5th Earl of Dysart (1734-99) (2) Magdalena Lewis (1734-99) (1745-1840) (d. 1823) Lionel Robert (1779-93

Sir William Tollemache, Viscount Huntingtower (1766-1833) = Catherine Gray cr. Bt 1793, assumed name and arms of Tollemache 1821 (1766-1852)

Lionel Tollemache = Elizabeth Toone (d. 1869) 8th Earl of Dysart (1794-1878)

William Tollemache = Katherine Burke Viscount Huntingtower (1822-96) (1820-1872)

William Tollemache = Cecilia Onslow Newton 9th Earl of Dysart (1859-1935) (d. 1917)

Felix = Sarah Gray (d. 1831) (1796-1843)

Caroline (d. 1867)

Hugh = Matilda Hume (d. 1873) (1802-90)

Ralph = Caroline Tollemache (1826-95) (1828-67)

Agnes = Charles Scott (1853-1938) (1853-1935)

Sir Lyonel Tollemache, 4th Bt = Hersilia Collingwood (1854-1952) (d. 1953)

Sir Cecil Lyonel Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886-1969)

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Sir Humphrey 6th Bt = Nora Taylor (d. 1990) (1897-1990)

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Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart (1708-1770) inherited his grandfather’s title and extensive estates in 1727. His inheritance included Ham House, Surrey, Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, Harrington, Northamptonshire, and a 20,000-acre estate in Cheshire. In 1729 he was elected High Steward of Ipswich and in the same year married Lady Grace Carteret (17131755), daughter of John Carteret, Earl of Granville. The 4th Earl commissioned many new pieces for his houses, but he also retained pieces from the collections of his ancestors. Both at Helmingham and Ham he set out to renovate and refurbish the interiors as well as adding to the existing collections, in many cases in an antiquarian spirit.

As a young man the 4th Earl travelled extensively on the Continent visiting France, Switzerland, and Italy. He spent little time in public life, and preferred to devote his efforts to his houses and collections. He took particular interest in redecorating the Marble Dining Room, which offered an ideal opportunity to commission a complete dinner service along with sumptuous new furniture and pictures. Beginning in 1729, Dysart built his entire dinner service over a period of twenty years. This manner of gradual accumulation of plate was common.

Although acquired over a long period, the dinner service is stylistically consistent in

reflecting a restrained rococo character with high quality finishes and engraved armorials. The 4th Earl was a meticulous record-keeper and dedicated patron who acquired pieces from the leading Huguenot goldsmiths of the day. Anne Tanqueray (1691-1733) provided pieces for the dressing table, and her brother David Willaume (1658-1741) supplied a chamber pot and a bread basket.

From the late 1730s, Paul Crespin became the principal supplier of silver to the 4th Earl. The account books record orders from Crespin, including a chocolate pot in 1738, now at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, a group of serving dishes in the early 1740s (six sold from the Poke Collection, Sotheby’s 20 November 2003, lots 171 & 172), three naturalistic scallop shell dishes, an epergne in 1749 (sold Sotheby’s 27 May 2004, lot 109) and four candlesticks in the early 1750s (sold Christie’s, London, 13 May 1992, lot 185).

The tureen is almost certainly the one which is recorded in the Earl of Dysart’s Account for the years 1733 to 1743 (Buckminster Park Archives, Mss 929). The entry dated 29 January 1742 lists, ‘to Crespin SylverSmith (For a Terrine) A bill on Child for Threescore & Ten Pounds

70.’

Ham House, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey. Kiev.Victor/Shuttershock.com.

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Paul Crespin Paul Crespin (1694-1760) was one of the most accomplished goldsmiths of the 18th century. Crespin, born in Westminster to Huguenot parents, was an apprentice to the Huguenot goldsmith Jean Pons in 1713, and his first registered marks appear between July 1720 and December 1721.

The fashion for French style and the highest levels of craftsmanship led many English patrons to buy directly from French goldsmiths, but Crespin successfully captured this style and quality himself in his own work. He was also unusual in England for adopting the rococo style as early as the mid 1730s, when this soup tureen was created.

Crespin incorporated rococo elements directly from Parisian print sources.

Throughout his career Crespin received a number of notable commissions, including from the King of Portugal, Catherine the Great of Russia, and George II for a christening bowl for his godson, George, third son of Lyonel Tollemache. Perhaps his most outstanding creation is the centrepiece made for Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1741, now in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen (E. Barr, George Wickes, Royal Goldsmith 1698-1761, 1980, fig. 103).

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HANBURY HALL • UPTON HOUSE

A PAIR OF GEORGE II MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS Attributed to William Hallett England, circa 1735 An exceptional pair of George II mahogany side chairs attributed to William Hallett.

The seat covers with early eighteenth century French needlework, worked in polychrome wools and silks in gros-point and petit-point, the backs with a vertical cartouche enclosing chinoiserie figures flanking a very unusual wine press and surrounded by accessories, and the seats with a horizontal cartouche enclosing an elaborate water cistern flanked by exotic animals, surrounded by exuberant scrolling leaves, against a cream coloured ground.

Each chair standing on magnificent mahogany cabriole legs to the front and rear terminating in ball-and-claw feet, with concealed brass and leather castors. The front legs carved to the knees with shells and each with a carved mahogany ring collar to the ankle.

Photographed in situ at Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire and later at Upton House, Warwickshire.

Height: 40¼ in (102 cm) Width: 30 in (76 cm Depth: 30 in (76 cm) Provenance Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire, possibly acquired by Thomas Bowater Vernon (1832-1859) or Sir Harry Foley Vernon, 1st Baronet (1834-1920) Acquired circa 1927 by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, M.C., Upton House, Warwickshire

Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire. David Hughes/Shuttershock.com.

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Literature H. Avray Tipping, English Homes Period IV – Vol. 1 Late Stuart, 1649-1714, 1920, pp. 397-404, figs. 490 & 492.

J. Haworth & G. Jackson-Stops, Hanbury Hall, The National Trust, 1994, ill. p. 7.

G. Jackson-Stops, Upton House, The National Trust, 1980, ill. p. 12.

A. Oswald, ‘Upton House, WarwickshireI,’ Country Life, 5 September 1936, p. 251, fig. 8.

S. Murray, ‘Upton House, Warwickshire,’ Country Life, 11 June 1992, p. 144, fig. 4.

L. Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, vol. I, 2008, pp. 327-328.

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The Design & Upholstery These chairs are attributed to the cabinetmaker William Hallett (1707-1781) because of striking stylistic similarities to a known suite of walnut seat furniture by Hallett supplied to Arthur Ingram, 6th Viscount Irwin (1689-1736). This suite incorporates almost identical carved scallop motifs and ringed claw and ball feet.

Hanbury Hall This very fine pair of chairs has an interesting and illustrious history, tracing back to two distinguished houses. The chairs are photographed in situ at Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire, circa 1916 along with other pieces from the original suite, which comprises of six chairs, one wing armchair, and one sofa.

The finely worked early eighteenth century French needlework attributed to the workshop of the tapissier Planqué at St. Cyr features recurring designs within cartouches of figures and mythical creatures. The inspiration for these scenes comes from Chinese woodblock prints and porcelain ornamentation from the Kangxi period (1662-1722). In her seminal publication, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (2008), Lucy Wood suggests that the needlework is original to the chairs. She notes that the panels fit ‘remarkably well’ and that the English frames may have been made to fit the imported panels.

Hanbury Hall was the residence of the Vernon family since 1631. The original Georgian furnishings of the hall do not survive because of a scandal within the family.

Emma Vernon (1755-1818) inherited the hall in 1771, but when she eloped with the local curate, her husband Henry Cecil closed the hall and sold all of the furniture and art. Emma returned to the hall in 1804 with her third husband and proceeded to redecorate the hall, at which point the she may have acquired the present pair of chairs.

However, as the suite of seat furniture does not appear in the 1840 inventory of the hall, it more likely was acquired by Thomas Bowater Vernon (1832-1859), who renovated and altered the hall between 1856 and 1859. Alternatively, his brother, Sir Harry Foley Vernon, 1st Baronet (18341920) may have acquired the suite after he inherited the hall upon his brother’s death in 1859.

Interior at Hanbury Hall showing the chairs in situ. Country Life Picture Library.

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Upton House The suite of furniture was sold when Sir Harry died in 1920, at which point it was acquired for Upton House, Warwickshire

by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882-1948). Bearsted was the chairman of Shell Oil, which had been founded by his father. In addition to being a great philanthropist, Bearsted was incredibly knowledgeable about art and served as the Chairman of the National Gallery as well as acting as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery. He amassed an incredible collection of paintings and porcelain during his lifetime, as well as a notable collection of English furniture that included the exceptional ‘Apollo’ side tables attributed to Benjamin Goodison from Stowe.

Bearsted bought Upton House in 1927, and the suite of seat furniture is photographed in situ in 1936. A great deal of his collection went to the National Trust upon his death in 1948, however the suite remained with the family until 1998.

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THE EARLS OF LOVELACE

A GEORGE I JAPANNED SIDE TABLE Attributed to George Nix England, circa 1720 A very rare George I black japanned side table attributed to George Nix. The panel top with moulded edge and re-entrant corners beautifully decorated with a lakeside chinoiserie landscape with figures on a jetty, birds flying in the sky, and rocky outcrops with trees and buildings, above a moulded frieze and standing on four triangular legs with pointed spade feet.

Provenance The Earls of Lovelace, presumably Ockham Park, Surrey and later Horsley Towers, Surrey

Comparative Literature C. Rowell ed., Ham House 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale, 2013, p. 283.

P. Thornton and C. Gilbert, ‘The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House’ The Journal of the Furniture History Society, vol. XVI, 1980, fig. 148.

Height: 29 in (74 cm) Width: 33 in (84 cm) Depth: 19 in (48 cm)

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Ockham Park, Surrey from View of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland

by John Preston Neale. British Library.

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George Nix This rare George I japanned side table can be attributed to the cabinet-maker George Nix (fl. 1716-1751) due to its close similarities with a table made by Nix for Ham House, Surrey. Recorded as ‘Nix ye Cabinet maker in King Street Covent Garden’, William Jones wrote of Nix as a cabinet maker who ‘raised himself to eminence in his profession and from the honest and pleasant frankness of his conversation was admitted to the tables of the great.’

‘for Sawing the Top of an Indian Cabinet & putting on a Deal Top, & Japanning the Top & new polishing the Cabinet… For making a Table of the Top of the Cabinet, and a neat Japann’d frame for the table.’

Both the table at Ham House and the present example feature straight legs and distinctive spade feet and derive inspiration from 17th century Chinese table designs.

The legs on both tables are outlined with gilt highlights.

The table at Ham House is notable for its incorporation of the top of a lacquer cabinet, also in the collection at Ham House, as the top of the table. As the lacquer cabinet was placed on a stand, the top would not have been visible and therefore offered an opportunity to use the desirable lacquer-ware for this different purpose. Nix’s invoice for this work reads,

A George II circular tripod table attributed to Nix, also previously at Ham House, features a Chinese lacquer top with a japanned base. The lacquer top is decorated with the Chinese pagodas and figures in red and gold highlights all on a black background. The black japanned legs of this table are also outlined in gold with additional gilt highlights to the feet.

Nix was a skilled craftsman in the art of japanning, as seen in the table bases of the Ham House furniture along with other japanned pieces attributed to his workshop.

For the present table, it is likely that Nix sought to create a top using the japanned technique that would closely resemble original Chinese lacquer. The prominent use of red decoration along with the gilded highlights is a clear imitation of Chinese lacquer. The depiction of the Chinese pagodas, trees, and birds closely relates to the top of the tripod table.

For further information on the Earls of Lovelace, please refer to pages 24-27.

The Duchess’s Bedchamber at Ham House, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, showing the related table by Nix. ©National Trust Images/John Hammond.

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HIGHCLERE CASTLE

SIR WILLIAM BEECHEY R.A. (1753-1839) Portrait of Lady Almeria Carpenter (1752-1809) England, circa 1790 Oil on canvas Canvas: 50¼ x 40¼ in (127.7 cm x 102.3 cm) A very fine portrait by Sir William Beechey R.A. (1753-1839) of Lady Almeria Carpenter (1752-1809). The subject standing in a wooded landscape, wearing a white dress and chiffon shawl. Her hair is powdered and gathered in curls with a thick blue ribbon, framing her naturally fresh and rosy face.

Provenance Acquired by Henry Herbert, 1st Baron Porchester, later 1st Earl of Carnarvon (1741-1811), Highclere Castle, directly from the artist in 1790 By descent at Highclere Castle until at least 1895

Literature H. H. Molyneux, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, Catalogue of the Principle Pictures at Highclere Castle, Newbury, 1880), part I, p. 7, no.

10; part II, p. 10, no. 15.

W. Roberts, Sir William Beechey, R.A., London, 1907, p. 223.

Photographed in situ at Highclere Castle.

Drawing Room at Highclere Castle showing the painting in situ (in a different frame).

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Lady Almeria Carpenter Lady Almeria Carpenter was the eldest daughter of George Carpenter, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel (1723-1762). During the second half of the eighteenth century she became one of the most notable figures in fashionable society, famed for her beauty.

In 1774, The London Magazine published her portrait and said that ‘This Lady, like a celestial meteor, hath long streamed through the circle of the court—the admiration of the women… blessed with every virtue, and crowned with every grace.’ Lady Almeria served as lady-inwaiting to Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh.

By the early 1780s she had become the mistress of the Duke of Gloucester, the brother of George III. She gave birth to a daughter in 1782, who was brought up by the prince’s steward on a farm at Hampton Court. After the birth, she travelled to Europe with the royal couple, and continued to live with them on their return to England.

As befitting a woman of her beauty and status, Lady Almeria was painted on numerous occasions by some of the leading portrait painters of the day, including Sir Joshua Reynolds. William Beechey’s account book reveals that in 1790, he painted ‘Lady A. Carpenter.’ A 19th century catalogue confirms that the portrait of Lady Almeria was purchased by Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnavon (1741-1811), for Highclere Castle and was hung in the drawing room alongside other family portraits—a 19th century photograph shows the painting in situ.

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Sir William Beechey This portrait is consistent with Beechey’s work of the early 1790s, when he started to react to the stylistic innovations presented by Thomas Lawrence (17691830), who had first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1787. The portraits of this period are probably Beechey’s finest, with their lively and expressive brushwork. The portrait of Lady Almeria Carpenter is comparable to his depiction of Queen Charlotte a few years later, with both subjects standing in energetically painted, atmospheric wooded landscapes. Beechey clearly delights in depicting the folds and creases of the ladies’ dresses, capturing the play of light on white fabric through vigorous brushwork.

Beechey originally trained as a lawyer, before turning to painting and entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1772. He was a student of Johan Zoffany, and much of his early work, until the late 1780s, is indebted to his master. After training in London, Beechey moved to Norwich, where he built up a good practice and reputation.

However, it was only on his return to London in 1787 that his style really developed, inspired by his contemporaries such Reynolds and Lawrence. With this development came increased success, and Beechey quickly became one of the most sought after portraitists in London. In 1793 he became the official portrait painter to Queen Charlotte and a great favourite of the royal family and the fashionable elite. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1798 and soon after was given a knighthood by George III. Such was the sustained length of his success that he also became the principle painter to William IV. This portrait of Lady Almeria Carpenter shows Beechey at his lively and graceful best, as he depicts one of the most fashionable and beautiful women of the era, in a painting acquired for one of England’s great houses.

Excerpt from H. H. Molyneux, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, Catalogue of the Principle Pictures at Highclere Castle, Newbury, 1880, the painting highlighted no. 10.

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HRH PRINCE FREDERICK LEWIS, PRINCE OF WALES

A PAIR OF GEORGE II MAHOGANY STOOLS England, circa 1740

An exceptional and very rare pair of George II mahogany stools with Royal provenance. The stools with serpentine sides, the seat rails rising at the corners to small scrolled hips above moulded and carved cabriole legs, the legs terminating in strolled toes on small pads. The stools upholstered in wonderful French 18th century gros and petit-point floral needlework.

Provenance HRH Prince Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, KG (1707-1751) With Norman Adams, Ltd. Private Collection, USA

Literature C. Claxton Stevens and S. Whittington, 18th Century Furniture: The Norman Adams Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1983, ill. pp. 46-47, 68 (colour illustration).

Each stool stamped ‘F’ beneath a closed crown on the underside of the seat rails.

The cypher is that of HRH Prince Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, KG, the eldest son of George II. Height: 16 in (40.5 cm) Width: 21 in (53.5 cm) Depth: 17 in (43 cm)

Cipher on the underside of the seat rail stamped ‘F’ beneath a closed crown.

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HRH Prince Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales The presence of the cypher of HRH Prince Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, KG (1707-1751) provides clear provenance for these stools. The cypher features a closed crown, which indicates a Royal. The cypher features a rough approximation of the single arched Royal coronet, which can only pertain to an heir apparent to the British Crown.

Frederick was born Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the eldest son of the future King George II and Caroline of Ansbach. When Frederick’s grandfather, George I, died in June 1727, his father became King George II and Frederick was created a Prince of Great Britain. Frederick predeceased his father in 1751, and when King George II died in 1760, Frederick’s eldest son, George William Frederick, succeeded to the throne as King George III.

The Design These stools embody an elegant and sophisticated design with the serpentine curve of the seat rails and shaped sides that rise at each corner to small scrolled hips.

The scroll feet raised on pads reflect the French fashion, and there are several examples in Chippendale’s Director.

As Frederick died in 1751, these stools can be firmly attributed to an earlier date, which makes them a very early example of the preDirector rococo style of furniture in England.

Charles Philips, Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1731. Yale Center for British Art. 46

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THE DUKES OF INFANTADO • LAZCANO PALACE

A PAIR OF GEORGE II SCARLET JAPANNED SIDE CHAIRS

By Giles Grendey England, circa 1730 Height: 40 in (102 cm) Width: 21½ in (55 cm) Depth: 22 in (56 cm) A highly important pair of George II scarlet japanned side chairs by Giles Grendey.

Each profusely decorated throughout with outstanding gilded chinoiserie scenes on a scarlet japanned ground, with elaborately dressed courtly figures standing in stylized landscapes surrounded by scrolling foliage, birds, lion masks, acanthus leaves and strapwork. The extravagant vase-shaped splat and shaped stiles above a caned seat, standing on cabriole legs joined by shaped moulded stretchers, and on pad feet. Stamped with the craftsman’s initials.

Provenance Presumably supplied to either Don Juan Raimundo de Arteaga-Lazcano y Chiriboga, III Marqués de Valmediano (d. 1761), for Lazcano, San Sebastián, Spain, circa 1735, and by descent at Lazcano; or to Don Juan de Dios de Silva Mendoza y Sandival, X Duque del Infantado (1672-1737), or his daughter, Dona Maria Teresa de Silva y Mendoza, XI Duquesa del Infantado (1707-1770), and thence by decent at the Palace of Lazcano, Northern Spain Acquired with the majority of the suite by Adolfo Loewi, 1930 Walter Rosen, Caramoor, Katonah, New York The Rosen Foundation, Caramoor, Katonah, New York

Literature R.W. Symonds, ‘Giles Grendey (1693-1780) and the Export Trade of English Furniture to Spain’, Apollo, 1935, pp. 337-342.

R.W. Symonds, Masterpieces of English Furniture and Clocks, London, 1940, pp. 87-88, figs. 56-57.

C. de Arteago, La casa del Infantado, Cabeza de Mendoza, vol. II, 1944.

C. Gilbert, ‘Furniture by Giles Grendey for the Spanish Trade’, The Magazine Antiques, April 1971, pp. 544-550.

H. Huth, Lacquer of the West, 1971, pls. 65-66.

G. Beard & J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, pp. 34 & 86.

A full bibliography is available upon request.

Giles Grendey trade label on the seat rail of a side chair from the Lazcano suite. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 48

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The Lazcano Suite by Giles Grendey These iconic chairs form part of the most celebrated and elaborate suite of English furniture from the eighteenth century.

Commissioned from the esteemed cabinetmaker Giles Grendey of London, this extensive suite comprises of at least seventy-seven pieces including tables, chairs, looking glasses, tripod stands, and several desks and bookcases.

The significance of this palatial collection of furniture is unprecedented, and it has been the subject of numerous publications.

Furniture historians R.W. Symonds described pieces from the suite as ‘the best English cabinet-work’ and Christopher Gilbert further emphasized the suite’s ‘outstanding importance.’ Today, many items from the suite are now represented in major museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Temple Newsam House, Leeds, and the Museo de las Artes Decorativas, Madrid.

This suite is acknowledged as one of the most important groups of English furniture of the 18th century ever made.

Giles Grendey Giles Grendey (1693-1780) was a leading London cabinet-maker, born in Wottonunder-Edge in Gloucestershire. He was the apprentice to the London joiner William Sherborne before becoming a freeman in 1716.

Taking his own apprentices by 1726, Grendey was elected to the Livery of the Joiners’ Company in 1729. His first workshop was at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, and he later moved to St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell where he developed a thriving export trade.

There is not a great deal of extant information on Grendey’s English clients, however there is a bill to Richard Hoare of Barns Elms, Surrey dated 1723 that includes a chest of drawers, a ‘Burow Table,’ dressing glasses, chimney glasses, and a ‘Wrighting Disk.’ Lord Scarsdale of Kedleston Hall, perhaps the most prominent of his known English patrons, acquired ‘1 Fine Jamai.

Mahog. Plank’ for £21 in 1762. Grendey also provided furniture for Sir Jacob de Bouverie at Longford Castle and Henry Hoare at Stourhead, whose account books listed payments between 1746-56 for £46 for chairs.

Grendey was one of only a few English cabinetmakers to regularly affix trade labels to his furniture. This record helps to provide additional information on Grendey’s clients and work. There are a few extant pieces that retain his labels, including pieces from the Lazcano Suite. His labels advertised that he ‘makes and sells all sorts of cabinet goods, chairs, and glasses.’ It is now known that his cabinet-makers (or ‘journey-men’) often, as with these chairs, stamped their initials to the chair frames.

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According to R. W. Symonds, Grendey was the only English furniture maker of his day of whom definite evidence exists of his thriving export trade. One record of his exportation of goods was reported in various newspapers on August 7, 1731 after a fire started on adjacent premises to Grendey, described as ‘a Cabinet-maker and Chair-maker.’ This devastating fire led to the loss of furniture valued at the incredible sum of £1,000, including one particular piece which was described as: ‘among other rich and valuable Goods was burnt a Chair of such rich and curious Workmanship… it being intended, to be purchas’d by a person of Quality who design’d it as a Present to a German Prince,’ which he ‘had packed for Exportation against the next morning.’

Furniture made in London for the Spanish market in particular displayed distinctive features that were designed to appeal to the Spanish love of opulence. Wealthy Spaniards showed an affinity for exotic lacquer-work in contrast to the more traditional English timbers of walnut and mahogany which were popular with the home market. Grendey and other firms involved in the export trade produced japanned pieces as it emulated the appearance of lacquer. Scarlet was the most popular ground colour and was generously enriched with gilt ornament and highlights in the chinoiserie taste.

Photograph of the suite at Lazcano Palace. C. de Arteago, La Casa del Infantado, Cabeza de Mendoza, vol. II, 1944.

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Chair Design The design of the chairs, both in form and ornamentation, draws on inspiration from both Chinese and Roman sources, which were amongst the leading decorative aesthetics in the early Georgian period.

The overall form with the vase-shaped back splat and curved cabriole legs was clearly influenced by classical Roman designs and antiquity, and is typical of English chairs of this period.

The love for all things chinoiserie followed the import of works of art from China and the East that began arriving in large quantities during the reign of William and Mary towards the end of the 17th century.

These wares, including blue and white porcelain, lacquer cabinets, and screens in particular, were of course prohibitively expensive and only affordable by the extremely wealthy echelons of society.

Local craftsmen and cabinet-makers tried to emulate the lacquer themselves – which without the appropriate ingredients and techniques proved impossible to do so exactly. The result became known as japanning. The fashion for japanning began in earnest following the publication of John Stalker and George Parker’s publication, A Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing, in 1688, which as a guide offered a thorough description of the japanning technique as well as advising on decorative schemes to use.

The Dukes of Infantado & Lazcano Palace The Palace of Lazcano was built between 1620 and 1640 in Guipúzcoa, Northern Spain and is associated with one of the oldest noble titles in Spain, dating back to 1330 when the head of the family was created Señor de la Casa de Lazcano con Grandeza de España. In 1697, Don Juan Antonio de Arteaga acquired the Palace of Lazcano. It is possible that the suite of furniture was commissioned for the Palace of Lazcano in the early 18th century for Don Juan Raimundo, 3rd Marqués de Valmediano (d. 1761).

The Infantado were perfectly positioned in the early 18th century to embark on the commissioning of such a magnificent suite of furniture. Don Juan de Dios de Silva y Mendoza (1672-1737), the 10th Duke, was one of the richest men in Spain at the time, and it is possible he could have commissioned the suite for his daughter, Maria Francisca Alfonsa de Silva Mendoza y Sandoval (1707-1770), the future 11th Duchess, after her marriage in 1724 or on her accession in 1737. If the suite did originate with the Infantado family, they brought the suite with them when they inherited Lazcano in 1891.

On the death of the 15th Duke of Infantado in 1891, Don Andrés, a descendant of Don Juan Antonio Arteaga of Lazcano, inherited the Dukedom, the inheritance tying the Dukes of Infantado to the Palace of Lazcano. The Dukedom of Infantado (‘con Grandeza de España’), had been granted to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Figueroa, son of Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana, by King Ferdinand VII and Queen Isabella, on 22 July 1475. They were one of the grandest families in Spanish history, and could count seven knights in the Order of the Golden Fleece and one Prime Minster of Spain. The family owned a number of important residences, including the Castillo de Manzanares in Castilla, and the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara.

The suite is recorded in a nineteenth century photograph of an interior of the Palace of Lazcano, which was later reproduced in La Casa del Infantado cabeza de los Mendoza by Cristina de Arteaga (vol. II, Madrid, 1944).

Adolph Loewi In 1930, the German dealer Adolph Loewi (1888-1977), visited the castle and acquired a great deal of the collection, including fifty side chairs, twelve armchairs, two daybeds, two pairs of mirrors, a pair of candlestands, a card table, and a tripod tea table. From his shops in Venice and later in America, Loewi sold the collection to clients internationally.

One of his greatest patrons was Walter Tower Rosen (1875-1951), an avid art collector, who acquired thirty pieces for his Caramoor estate in Katonah, New York.

Card table from the Lazcano suite by Giles Grendey. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 52

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THE EARLS OF PEMBROKE • WILTON

A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD DEMI-LUNE TABLES Attributed to Thomas Chippendale England, circa 1770 An outstanding pair of George III giltwood demi-lune pier tables in the neo-classical taste attributed to Thomas Chippendale. Each with magnificent fossilized marble tops with an ormolu beaded edge above a conforming frieze centred by a rectangular tablet carved with a flower-head flanked by honeysuckle, the frieze with a fish-scaled ground alternating with flower heads and fluted panels, raised on acanthus-carved circular tapering fluted legs on toupee feet.

Height: 36¾ in (92 cm) Width: 44¾ in (114 cm) Depth: 22½ in (57 cm) Provenance By repute, the collections of the Earls of Pembroke, Wilton House Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd., London Private Collection, USA Literature L. Synge, Great English Furniture, London, 1991, ill. pp. 6-7.

L. Synge, Mallett Millennium, London, 1999, ill. p. 21.

Comparative Literature C. Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, pp. 154-160.

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Wilton Wilton has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for nearly 500 years.

King Henry VIII presented Wilton Abbey and its estate to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1501-1570) in about 1544.

Some believe that the 1st Earl brought in Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) to re-design the abbey as a rectangular house around a central courtyard. This design forms the core of the present structure.

The great tower in the centre of east façade with its central arch and three floors of oriel windows above recalls the entrance at Hampton Court.

In the 1630s, the 4th Earl of Pembroke commissioned Inigo Jones (1573-1652) to build a new series of State Rooms in the Palladian style. Jones was close with the Herbert family and it is thought that the 3rd Earl may have paid for Jones’ trip through Italy to study Palladio and classical architecture. These seven state rooms are some of the finest that survive today in English country houses. One of the rooms is the Double Cube Room, which measures sixty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. The room features panelled walls painted white and decorated with gilded swags of foliage and fruit and is filled with magnificent furnishing by William Kent and Thomas Chippendale and outstanding portraits by van Dyck.

Luke Sullivan, A View of Wilton, Wiltshire. Yale Center for British Art. 56

10th Earl of Pembroke Henry, 10th Earl of Pembroke (1734-1794), succeeded his father in 1749. He was a celebrated military man who fought in Germany during the Seven Years War and achieved the rank of Major-General in 1761. He wrote the British Army’s manual on riding, Military Equitation: or a Method of Breaking Horses, and Teaching Soldiers to Ride.

He also served as Lord of the Bedchamber to George III. Lord Pembroke took great interest in both the architecture and gardens of Wilton, and he commissioned William Chambers (1723-1796) to complete ‘Various designs for fitting up rooms’ at both Wilton and his London residence, Pembroke House.

Lord Pembroke also consulted Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown (1716-1783) in 1779 regarding the gardens at Wilton.

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Thomas Chippendale In the introductory notes of his Director, Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) mentions only three patrons by name: the Earl of Dumfries, the Earl of Morton, and Henry, 10th Earl of Pembroke. He notes of Plate XLVI, ‘N.B. This Couch was made for an Alcove in Lord Pembroke’s House, at Whitehall.’ In total, Lord Pembroke spent £1,500 11s. with Chippendale between the years 1763 and 1773. A number of magnificent pieces, including the celebrated ‘Violin’ bookcase, remain at Wilton to this day.

Chippendale incorporated neo-classical motifs for the first time in the 3rd edition of his Director (1762). Although, unlike many of his peers, Chippendale did not embark on a Grand Tour himself, he would have been familiar with the recent discoveries at Palmyra as recorded in Robert Wood and James Dawkin’s 1753 publication Ruins of Palmyra and might well have seen some of the actual ruins brought back from Palmyra and put on display at Vauxhall Gardens in London in 1754. It was during this period that Chippendale is known to have worked closely with Robert Adam supplying furnishing to some of the most celebrated neo-classical interiors of the period.

Pier table from Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight of related design.

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The legs of the present tables are nearly identical in form to those on a demi-lune pier table attributed to Thomas Chippendale that was supplied to Sir Richard Worsley for the drawing room at Appuldurcombe in the late 1770s. These are recorded in the inventory as ‘2 circular slab frames car’d & gilt in burnish’d gold with tops neatly inlaid, diff ’t colour’d woods.’ Both pairs of tables feature neoclassical motifs, including the tapered fluted legs with stylised acanthus leaves and the central paterae at the tops of the legs.

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NEWHAILES • WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR.

THE NEWHAILES ARMCHAIRS Attributed to William Vile England, circa 1750-55 An exceptional and highly important pair of George II mahogany armchairs retaining their original Aubusson tapestry seat covers. Each chair with a rectangular back and seat upholstered with tapestry covers. The tapestry padded mahogany outswept arms with handrests terminating with carved flower-heads, and the moulded, sloping supports with carved ‘gothic’ panels, scrollwork, and beading.

Each chair standing on outstanding pierced and fretted square-section legs carved with floral garlands and terminating in guttae feet. The legs joined by elaborate chinoiserie pierced fretwork stretchers.

The outstanding Aubusson tapestry panels worked with strapwork cartouches interwoven with scrolling leaves and brightly coloured summer flowers on a claret ground, the cartouches on the backs depicting a peacock and flying stork, the seats with a leaping deer and a fox. The seat covers signed by Pierre Mage.

Photographed in situ at Newhailes House, Scotland.

Height: 39¾ in (101 cm) Width: 29½ in (75 cm) Depth: 30 in (76 cm)

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Provenance Originally from a set of four chairs presumably commissioned by General the Hon. James St. Clair (1688-1762) or his wife Janet (1688-1766), youngest daughter of Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes, for 60 Greek Street, London Acquired by 1st Lord Hailes (1726-92) for Newhailes, Midlothian, Scotland, in 1766 and thence by descent Frank Partridge & Sons, London, 1928 Percy R. Pyne, Esq., New York Mrs. Robert G. Elbert, Long Island and South Carolina Frank Partridge, Inc., New York Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Virginia Partridge Fine Arts, London, circa 1980s Ira and Nancy Koger, Savannah, Georgia Exhibited ‘Loan Exhibition of French and English Art Treasures of the Eighteenth Century,’ New York, 1942, no. 471.

Literature L. Weaver, ‘Newhailes, Midlothian,’ Country Life, September 8, 1917, pp. 228-232.

P. Duncan, ‘Newhailes, East Lothian,’ Country Life, January 29 and February 5, 1987.

J. Cornforth, ‘Newhailes, East Lothian,’ Country Life, November 21 and 28, 1996.

I. Gow, Scottish Houses and Gardens, London, 1997, p. 107.

J. Cornforth, ‘How French Style Touched the Georgian Drawing Room,’ Country Life, January 6, 2000, pp, 52-55, fig. 9, the ‘Crane’ chair.

J. Cornforth, ‘Newhailes, Midlothian,’ Country Life, August 22, 2002, p. 65-66.

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General the Hon. James St. Clair General the Hon. James St. Clair (16881762) married Janet Dalrymple (1698-1766), the youngest daughter of Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, in 1745.

Before his marriage, in 1735, he purchased Rosslyn Castle, in Midlothian, Scotland.

He was sent on a special envoy to Vienna and Turin in 1748 and brought along his aides David Hume, the famous historian, and his nephew, Sir Harry Erskine. St. Clair died in 1762 and was outlived by his wife Janet, who moved to 60 Greek Street after her husband’s passing.

Newhailes Sir David Dalrymple, 3rd Baronet, Lord Hailes (1726-1792) acquired the set of four chairs at the auction of the collection of Janet St. Clair, his aunt, in 1766. The set of four chairs was described as ‘4 French elbow chairs with tapestry seats & cases.’

Lord Hailes was the younger son of the 1st Viscount of Stair, President of the Court of Session, and lived at Newhailes, near Edinburgh.

Newhailes, now owned by the National Trust of Scotland, is an incredible survival of the Scottish Enlightenment. It was originally built by the architect James Smith (1645-1731) for his own residence, and was known as Broughton House. In 1709, Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet (Janet’s father) acquired the house and renamed it Newhailes in recognition of Hailes Castle, the family estate in East Linton.

The chairs were photographed in situ in the library of Newhailes in Country Life. The library was one of the most impressive spaces in the house. The family amassed a book collection of over 7,000 volumes that was widely admired, with Dr. Samuel Johnson referring to the library ‘as the most learned room in Europe.’

Newhailes House, Midlothian, Scotland. National Trust for Scotland, Newhailes.

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The Chair Frames Although the maker of the chairs is unknown, possible candidates include William Bradshaw (1700-1775), William Vile (1700-1767), and Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779). Bradshaw was a cabinetmaker with a tapestry workshop at 59 Greek Street. He was predominantly an upholsterer but is also known to have supplied furniture earlier in his career during the 1730s and 1740s, having supplied a suite of twelve armchairs and two sofas with tapestry covers to the 2nd Earl Stanhope for the Carved Room at Chevening, Kent in 1736-37.

Given the later date of these chairs, circa 1755, it is more likely that the chairs themselves were made by one of the leading cabinetmakers established on nearby St. Martin’s Lane, such as William Vile or Thomas Chippendale himself. It is of course possible that they may have been subsequently upholstered in the Bradshaw workshops.

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William Vile was almost certainly the cabinetmaker commissioned to create the related superlative suite of mahogany seat furniture for the drawing room of the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury at St. Giles House, Dorset. The entwined floral garlands and guttae feet along with the carved floral terminals on the down-swept arms are very similar in both the St Giles’s chairs and the Newhailes set. The exceptional carving on both suites is clearly the work of a master craftsman, and Vile is the most plausible.

The Tapestries The chairs are covered in outstanding signed crimson-coloured Aubusson tapestries. The signature ‘M. R. D. Mage’ likely refers to Pierre Mage, who worked at the Aubusson manufactory from 1697-1747. The Mage family of weavers goes back to François Mage, who is recorded as early as 1585.

Pierre Mage had a workshop in Paris in the rue de la Huchette and worked alongside Jean-François Picon. His depiction of birds on each seat back is designed in the manner of Jean-Baptiste Oudry.

It is quite possible General St. Clair brought the tapestries back from Paris himself, perhaps on his way home from Vienna. The other possibility is that Janet St. Clair purchased the tapestries from her neighbours in Greek Street, the Bradshaw workshops, who were known to carry Aubusson tapestries in stock.

The library at Newhailes showing two of the chairs in situ. Country Life Picture Library.

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Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. (1909-1988) was one of the leading art collectors in 20th century America. He devoted his life to building a collection of art after touring Europe as a young man and became acquainted with several contemporary artists, including Picasso, Braque, and Matisse. In addition to collecting modern art, Chrysler was adventurous in his collecting habits and often ‘bought against fashion.’

Chrysler lived in Virginia at North Wales and once retired, he focused his work on the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences in Norfolk, Virginia, which has been renamed the Chrysler Museum. The New York Times wrote that in 1971 ‘he made the gift that is one of the strongest and most various ever given at any one time by a single individual to an American museum.’

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CLIVE OF INDIA

A PAIR OF CHINESE REVERSE GLASS PAINTINGS China, circa 1760 An outstanding and important pair of mid 18th century Chinese reverse glass mirror paintings, once belonging to Clive of India.

Each one beautifully painted in the finest details, one featuring a spectacular pair of pheasants in a rocky landscape under a flowering prunus trees, the other a pair of chickens, a glorious white cockerel and a brown hen, together with their chicks, surrounded by roses and pomegranates.

The mirror panels mounted in their magnificent contemporary carved giltwood frames. The backboard of one frame stencilled ‘From Walcot 1929.’ Minor differences in sizes.

Provenance The collection of Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (1725-1774) Thence by descent at Walcot Hall, until moved to Powis Castle until sold circa 1935 Private Collection, UK

Comparative Literature For a mirror picture from the Clive collection with the same frame: David S. Howard, A Tale of Three Cities Canton Shanhai and Hong Kong: Three Centuries of Sino-British Trade in the Decorative Arts, p. 151, fig. 194.

Howard & Ayers, China for the West, pp. 640-43.

The pheasants – Height: 31 in (79 cm), Width: 21¼ in (54 cm) The chickens – Height: 31½ in (80 cm), Width: 21½ in (55 cm)

Reverse of frame showing stencilled ‘From Walcot 1929.’

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Studio of Nathanial Dance, Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, circa 1773.

National Portrait Gallery.

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Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (1725-1774), known as Clive of India, is forever associated with British rule in India. Clive began his career as a writer for the East India Company. He travelled on the East Indiaman Winchester to India on an eventful voyage that took fourteen months in total.

During three subsequent campaigns in India he led numerous successful battles that established British control. India soon became the “jewel in the crown” of the British Empire.

When Clive returned to England he set his sights on acquiring property both in town and in the country and sought to furnish them to the finest degree. Clive lived at 45 Berkeley Square in London from 1761 having purchased the property, together with its furnishings, from Lord Ancram for £10,500. The house had been designed by William Kent (1685-1748) in 1737 and overlooked the very fashionable square.

While he was in India for the second time he wrote to his wife about the first floor state apartments at Berkeley Square, saying ‘I would have the Grand Flight of Rooms furnished in the richest and most elegant manner, a man of great taste and judgement should be consulted.’

In addition to his London residence, after his second campaign in India, Clive purchased Walcot Hall in 1763. Walcot originally dated to the Elizabethan period, and Clive commissioned Sir William Chambers (1723-1796) to rebuild the house after he had acquired it. After Clive’s early death in 1774, at the young age of 49, Walcot passed to his son, Edward (17541839). Edward married Lady Henrietta, daughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, and in 1804, on the death of his brother-in-law the 2nd Earl of Powis who was without issue, the title was revived and Edward subsequently became 1st Earl of Powis, and with it came the magnificent Powis Castle.

Powis Castle, Wales. Rosesmith/Shuttershock.com.

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The Mirror Pictures Through his connections with the East India Company and as a result of his campaigns in India, Robert Clive inevitably filled his properties with treasures from India and the East. Around 1935, a large collection of reverse glass paintings was sold from the collection, the majority of which were subsequently acquired by the venerable dealer Blairmans for exhibition at the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair. The present pictures, along with one other (see comparative literature), were retained by the family of the original 1935 purchaser where they have remained until this year.

This is the first time that these mirror pictures have been offered for public sale.

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HAGLEY HALL

THE HAGLEY HALL SIDE CHAIRS Attributed to Vile & Cobb England, circa 1760 An outstanding pair of George III carved mahogany and upholstered side chairs, attributed to the Royal cabinet-makers William Vile and John Cobb. The serpentine-shaped upholstered backs and seats above wonderful carved seat frames and exaggerated cabriole legs terminating in scroll feet. The carving of exceptional quality and crispness.

Provenance Commissioned by Sir George Lyttelton, 5th Bt. and 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley (1709-1773) for the Saloon, Hagley Hall, Worcestershire By descent at Hagley Hall

Height: 38½ in (98 cm) Width: 26¾ in (68 cm) Depth: 26¾ in (68 cm) Photographed in situ in the Saloon at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire.

James Caldwall, Hagley Hall. Yale Center for British Art. 70

Literature ‘Hagley Park, Worcestershire. The seat of Viscount Cobham’, Country Life, 16 October 1915, p. 521.

H. A. Tipping, ‘The Passing of the Lyttelton Home’, Country Life, 2 January 1926, p. 28, fig. 2.

O. Brackett, Thomas Chippendale, A Study of His Life and Influence, London, pl. XVII. C. Hussey, English Country Houses, Early Georgian 1715-1760, 1955, p.198, fig. 353.

M. McCarthy, ‘The Building of Hagley Hall, Worcestershire,’ The Burlington Magazine, vol. 118, no. 877 (April 1976), ill. p. 220.

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William Vile & Job Cobb These magnificent side chairs were originally part of a larger set and can be attributed to the celebrated partnership of William Vile (1700-1767) and John Cobb (1710-1788). John Cobb worked with William Vile from 1750 until 1765 in Covent Garden, at No.72, the corner house of St. Martin’s Lane and Long Acre. Vile and Cobb held the Royal Warrant from 1761 to 1764, and their work can be seen in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. In addition to their royal clients, the pair also received commissions from the 1st Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall, the 4th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, and the 4th Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey.

John Cobb particularly favoured the elegant French taste and this influence can be clearly seen in his work.

The attribution of these chairs is based upon close similarities to a suite that Vile & Cobb supplied to John Damer for Came House, Dorset. The accounts of Came House from the years 1756-1762 feature the following entry on 13 July 1761: For 10 good mahogy. Back stool chairs with carv’d feet, stuft and covered with damask and finished compleat with Burnish Nails £23

The account continues to list a ‘French armchair’ and a ‘good mahogy. sopha’ both of which are illustrated along with a matching writing-table in Arthur Oswald, ‘Came House, Dorset – II’, Country Life, 27 February 1954, p. 573, figs. 7-9. The frames of this group of seat furniture and the writing table display a similarly conceived apron with the channeled decoration and the elegant cabriole leg with acanthus to the knee and scrolled foot.

This attribution can be further supported on the basis of a mahogany cupboard attributed to William Vile that displays a very similarly carved apron and is illustrated in R. Edwards, ‘Attributions to William Vile’, Country Life, 7 October 1954, fig. 4.

Saloon of Hagley Hall, Worcestershire showing four of the chairs in situ. Country Life Picture Library.

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Hagley Hall Hagley Hall is the family home of the Lyttelton family. George, 1st Lord Lyttelton (1709-1773) served as secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales and later as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lyttelton was a great patron to poets, including Alexander Pope and Henry Fielding—the latter dedicated his novel Tom Jones to George.

Lyttelton replaced the existing building on the grounds of the estate with the present magnificent neo-Palladian mansion between 1754 and 1760.

He commissioned Sanderson Miller (17161780), who owned Radway Grange, and John Sanderson (d. 1774) to construct the house. Their collaboration produced an impressive classical design that features corner towers with pyramidal roofs and Venetian windows. In total, the building and decoration cost £34,000, much more than the original figure of £8,000 that Lyttelton had intended to spend.

The interior of the house is resplendent with Rococo plasterwork by Francesco Vassali. In addition to his architectural work at Hagley, John Sanderson also assisted with the interiors. The Lyttelton family collection included furniture by Thomas Chippendale, and portraits by Anthony van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds, and Peter Lely.

This pair of chairs, en suite with an exceptional pair of carved mahogany tables, would have been supplied to furnish the Saloon and appear in an early Country Life interior photograph of 1915. The room features a Rococo ceiling of cherubs in clouds with garlands and trophies decorating the walls. The tables, one also shown in the Country Life photograph, were sold Christie’s London, 14 June 2001, lot 50 (£465,750).

George III carved mahogany table supplied en suite with the set of chairs for the Saloon at Hagley Hall.

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STOWE

A PAIR OF GEORGE III KINGWOOD CARD TABLES Attributed to John Cobb England, circa 1775 A very fine pair of George III kingwood and brass-inlaid card tables attributed to John Cobb. The table tops quarter-veneered with a moulded edge, the top enclosing a sliding tray with a container for cards, with a shaped frieze, standing on cabriole legs with ormolu sabots. Each table with outstanding ormolu mounts to the knees. Of particularly fine colour.

Height: 29½ in (75 cm) Width: 36 in (92 cm) Depth: 17¾ in (45 cm) Provenance Presumably supplied to George Grenville, Marquess of Buckingham (1755-1813) for Stowe House, Buckinghamshire Thence by descent Comparative Literature M. Bevington, Stowe House, London, 2002.

C. Streeter, ‘Marquetry Tables from Cobb’s Workshop,’ Furniture History, vol. 10 (1974), pp. 52-53.

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Stowe Stowe, Buckinghamshire is one of the largest and grandest of England’s stately homes. The first house on the site was built for Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet (1634-1697) between 1677 and 1683.

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (1675-1749) commissioned Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726) to significantly expand the house in the early 18th century to a span of almost 1,000 feet. The house and the surrounding grounds were continually updated and developed by later generations who hired notable architects and landscape designers including William Kent, Capability Brown, James Gibbs, Robert Adam, and John Soane.

The present tables were almost certainly commissioned by Viscount Cobham’s grandson, George Grenville, Marquess of Buckingham, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1755-1813). Grenville attended Oxford before embarking on a Grand Tour in 1774.

During his tenure, the Marquess of Buckingham expanded the family’s collection and focused his attentions on enhancing both Stowe and his London residence, Buckingham House (later to become of course Buckingham Palace).

He commissioned John Soane (1753-1837) to carry out both of these projects. At Stowe, the Marquess of Buckingham acquired fantastic quantities of fine furniture, paintings and works of art to compliment the grandeur and magnificence of the interiors.

The Temple-Grenville family hosted a number of notable guests throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including Prince Frederick, the Prince of Wales, King Christian VII of Denmark, Horae Walpole, The Prince Regent, and King Louis XVIII amongst many others.

Design These tables can be attributed to the workshop of John Cobb (1715-1780). The son-in-law of Giles Grendey, Cobb became a Royal cabinetmaker in partnership with William Vile (1700-1767) from 1751 until Vile’s retirement in 1764.

Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-ChandosGrenville, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1797-1861) accrued a great number of debts, so much so that he became known as the Greatest Debtor in the world. After the sale of Buckingham House in 1847, the family sold much of the contents of Stowe, including paintings, furniture, wine, and other assets through Christie’s landmark forty-day auction in 1848.

The English fascination and appreciation of French design was well established in 18th century England.

Despite the curtailment of trade during The Seven Years War of 1756-1763 the appetite for French fashions in England did not subside. Due to the trade restrictions, English craftsmen sought to emulate French designs for their patrons who wanted their furniture and art to reflect contemporary leading French taste. These tables with their quarter-veneered tops of exotic kingwood, elegant serpentine feminine form together with graceful cabriole legs, the friezes similarly veneered and inlaid with brass, and exuberant ormolu mounts epitomize this French taste.

Stowe remained in the family until 1921.

The house became Stowe School in 1923, and it still operates, with its magnificent interiors, as such today.

George Bickham after Jean B.C. Chatelain, A View of Stowe. Yale Center for British Art. 78

The present tables relate both in profile and construction to a further pair of card tables with the same Stowe provenance (offered Sotheby’s New York, Tom Devenish: The Collection, Highly Important Furniture, 24th April 2008, lot 115). Both pairs share the same form of frieze and concertina action, and the other pair is shown illustrated in situ in Stowe, circa 1920 in the Green Drawing Room.

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THE MARQUESS OF CREWE

A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIRS In the manner of Thomas Chippendale England, circa 1770 A very fine pair of George III giltwood armchairs in the manner of Thomas Chippendale. In the neo-classical style, with giltwood show frames, upholstered shield-shaped backs and rounded seats, outswept and padded arms, and standing on tapered fluted legs surmounted by carved patera.

Shown in situ at Crewe House in a drawing

by Hanslip Fletcher (1874-1955), The Drawing Room, Crewe House, 1934.

Height: 36½ in (93 cm) Width: 24 in (61 cm) Depth: 22 in (56 cm)

Crewe House, Curzon Street, London.

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Provenance The Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945), Crewe House, Curzon Street, London

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The Marquess of Crewe Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Earl of Crewe (1858-1945) was granted the title of Marquess of Crewe in 1911. He was the only son of Richard Monckton Milnes, a noted Victorian literary figure.

Throughout Crewe’s sixty years in politics, he served at various times as Viceroy of Ireland, Leader of the Liberal peers in the House of Lords, Secretary of State for India, Lord President of the Board of Education, Minister for War, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Privy Seal, and Ambassador to France.

Crewe married Sibyl Marcia Graham in 1880 and they had four children together.

Sibyl sadly died young of scarlet fever, and Crewe went on to marry again in 1899 to Lady Margaret Etienne Hannah Primrose, the daughter of the 5th Earl of Rosebery. In the same year he acquired Crewe House in London, and he had two further children.

Crewe House Originally designed by Edward Shepherd (1692-1747) in the 1730s, Crewe House is a magnificent mansion on Curzon Street in Mayfair. The property became known as Crewe House in 1899 when it was purchased by the Marquess of Crewe from the Wharncliffe family. Once the location of many grand parties, including one at which Winston Churchill met his future wife, Clementine Hozier, the Marquess of Crewe later offered Crewe House to the disposal of the Government for war purposes, and it soon became the headquarters for Lord Northcliffe’s Department of Propaganda.

Crewe House is still standing today and serves as an embassy. It is a rare survival of a detached mansion in its own grounds in the heart of London.

Hanslip Fletcher, The Drawing Room, Crewe House, 1934 showing the chairs in situ.

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The Marquess of Crewe commissioned Hanslip Fletcher (1874-1955) to create drawings of Crewe House in the 1930s, one of the Drawing Room and another of the front façade.

Fletcher was a watercolour painter and etcher of architectural subjects who specialized in scenes of London.

It is especially pleasing that this superb pair of giltwood chairs is clearly depicted in the sketch of the drawing room.

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THE IONIDES COLLETION • BUXTED PARK

A GEORGE III TULIPWOOD AND SYCAMORE MARQUETRY COMMODE Attributed to Mayhew & Ince England, circa 1765 An exceptional George III tulipwood and sycamore marquetry bow-front commode attributed to Mayhew & Ince. The commode inlaid with boxwood, the shaped rectangular top inlaid with a magnificent central oval fan paterae flanked by floral sprays, above two short bowed drawers, flanked by two drawers inlaid with oval panels of Diana and Erato, above two long graduated drawers, the whole standing on square tapering legs inlaid with tied bell flower chains and spade feet. With ormolu wreath handles. Of exceptional colour and patination throughout.

Height: 34¼ in (87 cm) Width: 44 in (112 cm) Depth: 22 in (56 cm)

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Provenance Basil and Nellie Ionides, Buxted Park, Sussex Thence by descent This outstanding commode formed part of the collection of Basil and Nellie Ionides. The Ionides lived at Buxted Park, Sussex, and this commode was part of the furnishings of the Saloon. Although there were several auctions of the Ionides’ collection, this commode has remained in the family until now.

Comparative Literature M. Owens, ‘When Good Eye and Goodly Fortune Come Together,’ The New York Times, 3 September 2010.

C. Hussey, ‘Buxted Park, Sussex’ Country Life, 21 & 28 April 1934, pp. 404-409, pp.

432-437.

C. Hussey, ‘Buxted Park, Sussex-I,’ Country Life, 4, 11, & 18 August 1950, pp. 374-378, pp. 442-447, & pp. 518-522.

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Nellie Ionides Nellie Ionides (1883-1962) was the daughter of Sir Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, Chairman and cofounder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company. A friend of Queen Mary, Nellie married Major Walter Henry Levy in 1902, but he passed away in 1923. As a young widow, Nellie was introduced to the architect Basil Ionides (1884-1950) by the esteemed furniture historian, Margaret Jourdain, who suggested that Ionides decorate Nellie’s London townhouse at 49 Berkeley Square. Basil was a renowned figure in his field known for his distinct Art Deco style and bold colour schemes. In 1930, Nellie and Basil married.

Both Nellie and Basil had a passion for the arts and were avid collectors. Their Berkeley Square townhouse became museum-like, with impressive displays of porcelain, art, and furniture. The couple was considered to be among the most prominent and significant 20th century British collectors of the decorative arts.

Buxted Park Buxted Park was originally built, circa 1725, for Thomas Medley, a descendent of the family who had been keepers of the Privy Purse during the reign of Henry VIII. Medley was a barrister who made a fortune introducing the English to port wine during the war against France.

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Buxted passed to the Rt. Hon. Cecil Jenkinson Bt., later Lord Liverpool (17841851), when he married Medley’s granddaughter. The Prince Regent and Queen Victoria both made visits to Lord Liverpool at Buxted.

In 1931, Nellie and Basil Ionides acquired Buxted Park, and they transformed the house into a showcase of their celebrated collection of 18th century and Regency furniture, paintings, oriental and Meissen porcelain, enamels, and clocks. A fire broke out in 1940 that destroyed much of the contents of Buxted including pieces that had been removed from Berkeley Square during the second World War to the safety of Buxted. Basil set out to rebuild Buxted to its former glory, and after the Blitz he visited bombed-out buildings to salvage architectural elements that he incorporated into the renovation. The entrance hall contained a fireplace from 19 Arlington Street while the doors came from Nos. 23-25 Portland Place that had been designed by Robert Adam.

The Ionides Collection In her will, after her death in 1962, Nellie Ionides left the family’s collection of Chinese porcelain to the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum, and Brighton Pavilion. Sotheby’s held auctions of the Ionides collection in 1963.

However, her beneficiaries kept this commode along with several other pieces.

Bernard Picart, Erato in Philip von Stosch, Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae, 1724, pl. VII.

The Design The commode reflects the skill and decorative features of the leading cabinetmaking firm, Mayhew and Ince.

John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (1737-1804) ran their successful workshop in London originally from Broad Street in Soho and later from Marshal Street in Carnaby Market near Regent Street. The unusual and luxurious choice of a tulipwood ground is characteristic of the firm’s appreciation of exotic timbers.

The panels on the drawer fronts reflect themes of music and hunting, which were classical subjects often selected as decoration for the most sophisticated commodes of the period, and presumably intended to reflect the passions of the original commissioning client. The music panel depicts the muse Erato and is based on a gem engraved by Bernard Picart for Philip von Stosch’s Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae (1724), pl.VII. The distinctive oval drop handle handles with an independent central paterae are of a type traditionally associated with Gillows of Lancaster and London, run by patriarch Robert Gillow (1704-1772) and his son Richard Gillow (1733-1811). There was indeed likely to have been some form of relationship between Mayhew & Ince and Gillows. Thomas Gillow (1736-1779), Richard’s cousin, resided at the Lock & Hinges in Marshall Street, conveniently just three doors away from Mayhew and Ince.

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SIR HENRY PRICE • WAKEHURST PLACE

A PAIR OF GEORGE III SATINWOOD ARMCHAIRS In the manner of George Hepplewhite England, circa 1790 An exceptional pair of George III satinwood open armchairs in the manner of George Hepplewhite. Each with a rectangular back with vertical splat carved with the Prince of Wales’s feathers, the caned seats fitted with blue silk cushions, on square tapering legs with painted reserves and collared toes. Of particularly fine quality with outstanding carved detail.

Provenance Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd., London, 1939 Sir Henry Price (1877-1963), Wakehurst Place, West Sussex Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd., London Private Collection, London

Height: 35¾ in (91 cm) Width: 21½ in (55 cm) Depth: 22 in (56 cm)

Wakehurt Place, West Sussex. Photo by David Iliff, License: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

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George Hepplewhite & Gillows of Lancaster George Hepplewhite (1727-1786) was one the leading cabinetmakers in 18th century England. He opened a workshop in the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate in London and produced furniture that reflected the influence of French designs and a lighter form of neo-classicism. These chairs related closely to a design published by Hepplewhite and Co. in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, 3rd ed., 1794, pl. 1.

With their vase-carved splats surmounted

by Prince of Wales feathers and painted oval panels to the seat rail, the present armchairs also relate to a 1790 design by Gillows of Lancaster, a variant of their ‘canopy top rail’ chairs which were generally carved with drapery swags.

Henry Price The tailor Henry Price (1877-1963) was renowned during his lifetime for his fiftyshilling suit. In 1936, he acquired Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. He restored the house as well as the gardens, which were originally designed by Gerald Loder. Queen Mary, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and the Duke of Kent all visited Price at Wakehurst Place.

During World War II Sir Henry offered the house to the Canadian Army. His collection of art and antiques were stored in the stables and the outhouses for safekeeping, and despite the fact that the garden was bombed in the Blitz, the collection remained safe. Sir Henry bequeathed Wakehurst Place to the National Trust when he died in 1963.

Sir Henry worked with Frank Partridge, the esteemed antique dealer, to build his collection of antique furniture. Partridge commented on working with Sir Henry in his memoir, saying ‘One of the greatest pleasures of my life was the furnishing of ‘Wakehurst,’ the home of my good friend, Sir Henry Price. He gave me a blank cheque to do it with, and the only demand he made was that I make the house worthy of the wonderful Sussex countryside which surrounds it.’ In total, Sir Henry spent in excess of £100,000 on antiques for Wakehurst. Partridge advised Sir Henry to collect English pieces in the four great ‘ages’ of English furniture: oak, walnut, mahogany, and satinwood.

George Hepplewhite, ‘Chairs,’ The Cabiner-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, 3rd ed., 1794, pl. 1.

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THE LORDS ASHCOMBE • SUDELEY CASTLE

A GEORGE III ROSEWOOD WRITING TABLE In the manner of John McLean England, circa 1800-10 A very fine George III Regency rosewood and brass-mounted double-sided library writing table in the manner of John McLean. The rectangular gilt-tooled leather-lined top with reentrant corners above a frieze with two drawers on one side, and two dummy-drawers on the reverse, with down-swept legs ending in reeded brass caps and castors, the end supports with ormolu ‘milled’ tablets.

Height: 29 in (73 cm) Width: 48 in (121 cm) Depth: 26 in (66 cm) Provenance The Lords Ashcombe, Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire Comparative Literature S. Redburn, ‘John McLean and Son,’ Furniture History, vol. 14, 1978, pp. 31-37.

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John McLean John McLean (1770-182), of Upper Marylebone High Street, London, was one of the preeminent cabinetmakers at the end of the eighteenth century. His firm secured commissions from some of the greatest patrons of their day, including the 5th Earl of Jersey for Middleton Park, Oxfordshire and his Berkeley Square residence, as well as Edward Lascelles for Harewood House, Yorkshire. Thomas Sheraton featured one of McLean’s designs for a table in his The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1803) and noted, ‘The design on the left hand was taken from one executed by Mr. M’Lean in Mary-le-bone street, near Tottenham court road, who finishes these small articles in the neatest manner’ [sic].

Several pieces of furniture made by McLean retain the firm’s original trade labels affixed to the inside of drawers.

McLean’s work, in the Regency taste, can be typically characterized by the use of the finest rosewood veneers together with lacquered gilt-brass mounts.

The combination of the rich darkness of the rosewood and the gilt mounts provided an attractive and striking contrast. The inclusion of inset tablets featuring the ‘match-striker’ or ‘milled’ design has become recognized as one of the hallmarks of McLean’s oeuvre.

Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire dates back to the 15th century. Ralph Boteler (1394-1473), created Baron Sudeley by King Henry VI, built the castle with income earned from fighting in the Hundred Years’ War. The castle passed into the hands of the Royal family when King Edward IV confiscated the castle from Boteler in 1469. King Edward VI gave the castle to his uncle, Thomas Seymour, whom he made Baron of Sudeley. Later, Mary I granted the castle to Sir John Brydges, creating him Baron Chandos of Sudeley.

William and John Dent, two wealthy glove makers from Worcester, bought the Castle in 1837 from the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. They commissioned Sir Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) to restore the castle and filled the interiors with impressive paintings, furniture and works of art.

The Lords Ashcombe Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Lord Ashcombe (1924-2013) came to Sudeley Castle when he married Elizabeth, widow of Mark Dent-Brocklehurst, in 1979. Ashcombe was a descendent of the master builder Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855) who built much of London’s Bloomsbury, Pimlico, and Belgravia.

Ashcombe served in the RAF during World War II and went on to join the family business, including serving as chairman of Holland, Hannen and Cubitt.

Together with Lady Elizabeth, Ashcombe helped to refurbish Sudeley to maintain the house as a private residence while also opening the house to the public.

Capt. Francis Grose, View of Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire. Yale Center for British Art. 94

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JUDGE IRWIN UNTERMYER

A PAIR OF WALNUT CURULE ARMCHAIRS England, circa 1860 A rare pair of mid 19th century Renaissance-style walnut curuleform armchairs. Each with rounded back, arms and seat cushion all upholstered in worn green silk velvet upholstery, standing on moulded curved legs.

Photographed in situ in Judge Irwin Untermyer’s Fifth Avenue apartment, New York.

Height: 33½ in (85 cm) Width: 27 in (68.6 cm) Depth: 17 in (43.2 cm) Provenance The collection of Judge Irwin Untermyer, New York By whom gifted to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Comparative Literature J. Gloag, English Furniture with Some Furniture of Other Countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, Cambridge, MA, 1958.

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Irwin Untermyer Irwin Untermyer (1886-1973) was an esteemed lawyer, judge, and art collector.

In his lifetime he amassed one of, if not the greatest collection of British decorative arts in America. Untermyer was born in New York and attended Columbia University for his undergraduate and law degrees. After a legal career in the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, Untermyer retired in 1945 to devote himself ‘with undivided interest to his pursuits as a collector.’

From his apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue, he amassed an impressive collection of English furniture, porcelain, textiles, and silver. In the foreword of his 1958 publication entitled English Furniture with Some Furniture of Other Countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection (1958), Untermyer writes ‘I have always regarded the English furniture as the outstanding part of the collection, for though I have acquired other forms of art, there has never been any time during the past forty-five years when I have not been interested in the acquisition of English furniture.’

The Design The distinctive ‘curule’ form of the chairs is derived from the ‘sella curulis,’ the chairs used by figures of importance and authority in ancient Rome. The revival of interest in antiquity both during the Renaissance and then again during the 19th century with the revival of antiquarian taste saw the resurgence of popularity of curule seats.

Other variations of this type of x-frame chair include the Dante chair, Savonarola chair, scissor chair, or more simply, a crossframe chair.

He served as a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1951 and 1971.

He began making gifts to museum in 1955 and continued to do so for the rest of his life. In total, he gifted around 2,000 works from his collection.

Judge Irwin Untermyer’s apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue, New York, showing the chairs in situ. Photograph courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 98

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CRIMONMOGATE

A PAIR OF NEO-CLASSICAL MAHOGANY SIDE TABLES Attributed to Archibald Simpson Scotland, circa 1825 A fine pair of early 19th century George IV period neo-classical mahogany side tables designed by Archibald Simpson, and made for Crimonmogate House, Aberdeenshire. Each standing on tapered fluted front legs with finely carved quatrefoil detailing and block feet. The rear legs of similar form but decorated with tapering fielded panels. In the Grecian neo-classical taste. The mahogany of particularly fine quality throughout. Previously fitted with drawers and with replaced marble tops.

Height: 36 in (91.5 cm) Width: 63 ž in (162 cm) Depth: 38 Ÿ in (72 cm) Provenance Designed by Archibald Simpson (1790-1847) for Crimonmogate House, Aberdeenshire

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Crimonmogate The origins of Crimonmogate House date back to the 14th century when the land was part of the estate of the Earls of Errol.

The name Crimonmogate is derived a mix of Gaelic and Old Norse charmingly translated as ‘The road through the cowpasture by the peat-moss.’ In the 1730s the estate, which included only a simple house, was sold to the Abernethy family.

The interior of the house is equally grand, particularly the Great Hall, which was designed in the style of and influenced by John Vanbrugh’s Great Hall at Blenheim Palace. Charles McKean, a Scottish architectural historian, describes the hall as ‘a perfect cube, its proportions emphasized by tall, fluted Corinthian columns which lead up to a magnificent cornice and a cofferedceiling, a glazed dome at the centre.’

Alexander Milne, a merchant who owned factories across Aberdeen and Donside, purchased Crimonmogate in the early 19th century. His son Patrick (1755-1820) commissioned Archibald Simpson (17901847) to design a grand house for the estate in 1820. Simpson employed the Greek Revival style for the architecture and built the structure with granite from Kemnay. The façade of the house features a magnificent Greek Doric portico with six columns.

Crimonmogate House, Aberdeenshire. ©Crown Copyright: HES. 102

Archibald Simpson Archibald Simpson (1790-1847) was a highly respected Scottish architect who was responsible for creating many of the buildings in Aberdeen that gave it the name ‘The Granite City.’ He opened his architectural practice in 1813 and developed a career designing civic monuments, public buildings, villas, and country houses. Simpson championed the Grecian style with its purity in detail and proportion with interiors designed with classical friezes and woodwork.

The present tables with their pure classical form are entirely appropriate for such a grand commission.

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THE EARLS OF LONSDALE

A GEORGE III WALNUT SIDE CHAIR Attributed to Paul Saunders England, circa 1760 A very fine George III walnut side chair attributed to Paul Saunders, the sinuous exaggerated serpentine-shaped and pierced back finely carved throughout with acanthus leaves and hare-bells, the upholstered seat with silk damask, above four superb similarly carved cabriole legs each terminating in exaggerated scroll toes in the ‘French’ taste.

Height: 37½ in (95.5 cm) Width: 22½ in (57 cm) Depth: 18½ in (47 cm)

Provenance Presumably part of a suite supplied to James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (17361802), for Lowther Castle, Westmoreland or Lowther Lodge, London By descent to Hon. William Lowther Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, 16 May 1912, lot 127 (a set of four) Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd., London Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1913

Lowther Castle, Westmorland. Lakelandvista/Shuttershock.com.

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Paul Saunders This chair can be attributed to Paul Saunders (1722-1771), a leading cabinetmaker in London in the 1750s and 1760s. Saunders held the title of Tapestry Maker to His Majesty George III and also received a number of important commissions from notable patrons of the day. Saunders’ workshop was based around Carlisle House, Soho Square, and later from 59 Greek Street, when he partnered with the cabinetmaker and upholsterer, William Bradshaw.

Saunders and Bradshaw in particular supplied furniture to Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697-1759) for Holkham Hall, Norfolk. The firm supplied an identical set of chairs, albeit with parcelgilt highlights, to the Coke family for the dining room at Holkham.

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Lowther Castle Lowther Castle, Westmorland has been in the Lowther family, later the Earls of Lonsdale, since the Middle Ages. John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, built the castle in the late 17th century.

James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (17361802) succeeded to the baronetcy and the estates, including Lowther Castle, in 1745.

He was one of the wealthiest men in England, with an annual income of around £45,000.

He married Mary CrichtonStuart, daughter of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, in 1761. The 3rd Earl of Bute was one of Robert Adam’s early patrons at Lansdowne House and Luton Hoo, and he likely introduced Lowther to Adam.

Lowther commissioned Adam to create designs for both Lowther Castle and Whitehaven Castle, but it was not until the early 19th century when William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1757-1844) commissioned Robert Smirke to build the famous castellated mansion.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) once wrote about the castle, ‘Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen/Cathedral pomp and grace in apt accord/With the baronial castle’s sterner mien.’ Joseph Turner visited the castle and painted a vista showing Lowther Castle in the distance.

The painting, Lowther Castle – Evening, currently hangs at the Bowes Museum.

Requisitioned during World War II, and after the sale of the contents in 1947, the castle was demolished and now remains as a magnificent ruin.

The North Dining Room, Holkham Hall, showing the suite of related chairs. By kind permission of Lord Leicester and the Trustees of Holkham Estate, Norfolk/Bridgeman Images.

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SALTRAM

A WORCESTER TEACUP AND SAUCER From the atelier of James Giles English, circa 1770 An extremely rare Worcester teacup and saucer from the atelier of James Giles.

Superbly painted in green monochrome on a pure white ground, with figures in classical landscapes, with a gilt dentil border, a solid gilt handle and a wide gilt band around the footrim. Both pieces have crossed swords and 9 mark in underglaze blue. Numerous exhibition labels to undersides.

Provenance Almost certainly for Montagu Edmund Parker (1737-1831) for Whiteway House, Devon The Anthony Wood Collection The Stephen Hanscombe Collection The majority of the service remains by descent at Saltram House, Devon.

Exhibited Dreweatt Neate, ‘Worcester Porcelain’, Dyson Perrins Exhibition, 1995, cat. no. 136.

Albert Amor, Worcester Porcelain 1751-2001, 2001, cat. no. 43.

Robin Robb, Fine 18th Century English Porcelain, 2003, cat. no. 3.

Stockspring Antiques, James Giles, China and Glass Painter, 2005.

Richard Cooper the Younger, Saltram, Devon. Yale Center for British Art. 108

Comparative Literature P. F. Ferguson, Ceramics - 400 Years of British Collection in 100 Masterpieces, London, 2016, p. 128.

A. Dawson, The Art of Worcester Porcelain 1751-1788: Masterpieces from the British Museum Collection, London, 2007, pp. 218219.

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The Parker Family The Parker family rose to prominence in the mid-16th century as the bailiff of the manor of North Molton. George Parker (1651-1743) purchased the manor of Saltram, Devon in 1712 from the Carteret family and Whiteway House, Devon in 1722 from the Bennett family. John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1703-1768) married Catherine Poulett, daughter of Queen Anne’s Minister, John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett, of Hinton House, and made Saltram his principal seat.

His younger brother, Montagu Edmund Parker (1737-1831) lived at Whiteway House, Devon.

The Service There is an extensive tea and coffee service, with exactly the same painted and gilded decoration, in the collections at Saltram House today. This service is understood to have been commissioned from the workshop of James Giles by Montagu Edmund Parker for Whiteway House, Devon. After Whiteway was sold by the family in 1923, it is logical the some of the contents, including this service, would have been transferred to Saltram.

The service first appears, coinciding neatly with these events, in a valuation of the contents of Saltram in 1924.

A Worcester ‘standard tea and coffee equipage’ of this date traditionally included twelve teacups and saucers along with six coffee cups. The Saltram service is complete with the exception of four teacups and saucers. The aforementioned 1924 inventory carried out at Saltram contains full details of the green landscape service which then, as now, had four teacups missing. It would appear that these four teacups and saucers left the collection at, or before, this time. The other three teacups and saucers can be found in the collections of the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Worcester Museum.

Saltram House is now owned by the National Trust.

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James Giles James Giles (1718-1780) was an outstanding English porcelain and glass painter who worked for all of the major porcelain manufacturers, including Worcester, Derby, Bow, and Chelsea.

Giles’ father, also James Giles, was a ‘China Painter’ by trade working and living in London. Giles established a workshop in the Arts Museum in Cockspur Street opposite Haymarket. His advertisements in Mortimer’s Universal Director of 1763 proclaims, ‘This ingenious Artist copies the Pattern of any China with the utmost exactness, both with respect to the Design and the Colours, either in European of Chinese taste … [and that] He has also brought the Enamel Colours to great perfection.’

Throughout his career, Giles received numerous important commissions from esteemed clients including Clive of India, the Duke of Northumberland, the Duke of Marlborough, Horace Walpole, and Princess Amelia, the second daughter of George II. There is a related service to the Saltram service at Corsham Court, documented as being purchased on 20 February 1771, by Paul Methuen from James Giles.

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OUR SERVICES We offer a comprehensive service around all aspects of your collection of fine antique furniture. We are particularly well placed in the market to offer advice on matters including sourcing, de-acquisitioning, cataloguing, shipping, restoration, and conservation, as well as interior consultation.

SOURCING We are often asked to source specific pieces on behalf of our clients. Whether this is at auction, or from our extensive access to private collections not readily available on the market, we are ideally placed to facilitate these requirements.

An 18th century Chinese Export lacquer bureau on stand sourced for a client.

RESTORATION We provide a comprehensive restoration and conservation service. Our extensive contacts with a wide range of highly skilled and specialist restorers both in the UK and the USA allow us to carry out restoration on behalf of our clients to meet their specific needs, including polishing and waxing, japanning and lacquer work, gilding, decorative painting, framing, and upholstery. Please contact us for a quote.

Detail of the George II walnut shepherds crook armchair.

INTERIOR CONSULTATION We continue to work on a number of full-scale interior design projects for our clients in the UK, USA and Continental Europe. Since 2014, we have been particularly privileged to have been invited by The Blair Charitable Trust to advise on the interior schemes, layouts and the outstanding collections at Blair Castle, Perthshire, the ancient seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl.

A view of the Tapestry Room, Blair Castle, Perthshire.

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