VITA BREVIS, ARS LONGA (Hippocrates 460-370 BC) (Life is Brief but Art, Eternal) The timeless excellence of the pieces shown in our latest catalogue amply demonstrates this maxim, manifesting in every case the masterly skill and craftsmanship of the designers, makers and, artists, allied with the finest materials available at the time, many of which are unobtainable today. Although, with the passage of time, each year it requires greater and greater efforts on our part to present to you articles which pass our stringent tests of originality, exceptional quality, and excellence of design, we are proud and delighted to present some of our discoveries of the past twelve months. We take pleasure in sharing with you four pieces having direct Royal provenances, including a solid silver gilt christening cup presented by George the Third, a magnificent Gothic centre table from Windsor Castle, a cabinet made for the Countess of Montmorency, and an extraordinary dressing table ordered by His Exalted Highness, the Maharajah of Hyderabad, who was during his lifetime, according to Time magazine, the richest man in the world; these, as well as a choice selection of some very fine furniture, which includes a section of pieces by Gillows of Lancaster & London, and, inter alia, examples of works by Henry Dasson, Lamb of Manchester, G.B. Gatti, Grohé & Jacob Frères, as well as paintings, and objects, which include a remarkable Grand Tour tazza by Benedetto Boschetti. We were thrilled that one of our pieces, the extraordinary cabinet made by Friedrich Ludwig Hausburg, seventeen years in the making, was named, by Country Life Magazine ‘The 2010 Object of the Year’. We trust that in perusing our latest catalogue you will share the sense of pleasure we had in finding and acquiring these pieces. You will find many more pieces on our constantly updated website, and we are always happy to assist in searching for any specific requirements you may have.
Ian, Adam & James ‘Excellence can only be obtained by the labour of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at lesser price’ Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
View of one of our showrooms
The Hausburg Cabinet. Begun 1840, Finished 1857
Butchoff Antiques 154 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BN Tel: +44 (0)20 7221 8174 Fax: +44 (0)20 7792 8923 Email: enquiries@butchoff.com Web: www.butchoff.com
A Rare Regency Cabinet in the Egyptian Manner Circa 1820
Of monumental proportions, constructed in flame mahogany in a shouldered pylon form, the design drawn directly from Ancient Egyptian temples: of breakfront form, above the plinth base, the three doors, with raised trapezoidal panels supported by taloned feet; the central door within two pilasters, adorned with pharaonic heads, wearing khat headdresses, adorned with the uraeus, symbol of Wadjet, the Goddess of Wisdom; over, in the incurved and fluted cavetto cornice, are carved figures of confronting birds, the unified symbol of Horus; on the shoulders of the flanking doors are addorsed carved wood figures of the Sphinx. Mindful that George Bullock, the Liverpool cabinet maker whose designs informed the Regency period, had a showroom in Piccadilly, called the ‘Egyptian Rooms’, and that Thomas Hope, the influential designer drew on the newly rediscovered Egyptian influences: yet, more truly ‘Egyptian’ than the known works of either of these eminent men, this dramatic piece of furniture, in our humble, yet, certain view, is the apotheosis of Egyptian Regency art.
DIMENSIONS: H:
REFERENCE:
97 in: 246.5 cm
W:
103 in:
262 cm
D:
27 in:
69 cm
7511
A Very Fine Settee After a Design by William Circa The mahogany settee has the end arm supports carved with recumbent mermaids, terminating in Georgian style ‘hairy paw feet’, the centre legs carved with winged female herms, and the rear legs carved with acanthus leaves and conforming hairy paw feet; the seat rails carved with a running bead & reel design, and acanthus leaves; the top rail having a fine carved central medallion motif of Venus and Cupid, flanked with egg-and-dart scrolls: the maker’s brass label underneath, stamped ‘Maple & Company / London / Paris / Buenos Aires’. The virtually identical settee is depicted in Francis Lenygon’s work ‘The Decoration & Furniture of English Mansions during the Seventeenth & Eighteenth Centuries’ published 1909, page 69. A sketch of a concordant settee designed by William Linnell, and a variant thereof, was made for Viscount Scarsdale (Lord Nathaniel Curzon) at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire are to be found in ‘William & John Linnell’ by Helena Hayward & Pat Kirkham, published Studio Vista 1980; an unsigned drawing of the sofa may be found in Eileen Harris’s book ‘The Furniture of Robert Adam’, plates 98-99-100. Maple and Company Founded in 1841 by John Maple, manufacturing and retailing from the hub of the furniture centre in London’s Tottenham Court Road, and through the founder & his son’s drive and excellence of the products, the company expanded greatly, to have further workshops and points of sale in both Paris and Buenos Aires, and later, a shop in Smyrna. Clientele included Queen Victoria, King Edward VIIth, members of the Royal Household, the King of Siam, and Nicholas, Tsar of Russia. Later, Maples would furnish the Royal yachts, the QE1, QE2 and the Queen Mary, as well as hotels in Nice, London, Paris and Siam.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
40 in:
102 cm
W:
84 in:
213 cm
D:
35 in:
88 cm
7619
Linnell By Maple & Company of London 1900
A Fine Centre Table of the Regency Circa Constructed in carved gilt wood and marble; rising from quadripartite cabriole legs dressed with acanthus leaves and foliate volutes, terminating in taloned feet grasping hemispheres, and fitted with concealed castors, conjoin a fluted serpentine platform, having a centre flambeau finial; four ‘c’ scroll arms, carved with acanthus and foliates, terminate in male bearded mask heads issue, supporting the serpentine top, inset with later an antico verde marble, within a gilt bronze guard band. Provenance Almost certainly commissioned for Wanstead House, Essex by Catherine Elizabeth Forbes TynleyLong (1789-1825) and her husband, The Hon.William Pole Tynley-Long (1788-1857) following their marriage of 1812. Sold in the house contents sale, which lasted 32 days, and was conducted by Mr Robins, of Warwick House, Regent Street. Three identical tables were sold from Wanstead house, described in the catalogue as follows:- ‘a splendid serpentine shape card table, top lined with a costly crimson Genoa velvet, with stamped border and gilt scalloped shell pool trays, brass mounted edge, on a superb and gilt raffle-leaf scroll frame, with massive head ornaments at the four corners, and solid Grecian scroll claw & ball feet, 3 feet 2 inches square’. This description corresponds exactly with our table, with the exception that the velvet top has been replaced by a marble. Beneath the marble are screw holes suggesting it originally had a wooden top affixed. Two other tables with provenance to the Wanstead House sale and purchased by Philip John Miles were sent to Leigh Court, Bristol, then resold in 1900, and thence by descent appeared on the London market in 2005. Wanstead House was commissioned by Lord Tynley, of Colen Campell, author of the bible of British Palladian architecture, the ‘Vitruvius Britannicus’, and the 1815 edition, volume 3, pp 39-40, illustrates and discusses the house, with William Kent appointed to design the interiors.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
29.5 in:
75 cm
W:
39 in:
99 cm
D:
39 in:
99 cm
7661
Period in the Manner of William Kent 1815
An Imposing Pair of Armchairs Circa
Constructed in mahogany, which has been magnificently and exuberantly carved; rising from cabriole front legs with ‘hairy paw’ feet, with grotesque male masks to the knees; the seat rails carved with addorsed Vitruvian scrolls, within a bead and reel frame; the gently incurving backs comprehensively carved with pendant foliates, with scrolled shoulders over, centred about scallop shells, with opposing eagle heads holding garlands in their beaks; the padded armrests carved with further foliates, and terminating in outswept lions head handrests. Upholstered to the seats and backs.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
61 in:
155 cm
W:
36 in:
92 cm
D:
22 in:
56 cm
7579
in the Manner of William Kent 1870
A Magnificent Hall Table in Circa
Constructed in carved gilt wood, the cabriole legs with scrolled block feet, dressed with acanthi leaves, with guilloches, to the faces, imbrications to the sides, supporting an addorsed Vitruvian scroll faced apron, centred with an oversize Venus scallop shell, issuing knotted oak leaf garlands and pendants. The everted platform is of Tavolo Breccia marble.
William Kent (1685-1748) A leading exponent of the Palladian revival he was sponsored by the Earl of Burlington. In the great Palladian houses of the period, of which Raynham, Holkham and Houghton are celebrated examples, Kent made free use of the rich and ornate baroque style which he had studied during his travels in Italy. The design of this table relates to several examples inspired by William Kent. In particular a well documented table from Houghton Hall, Norfolk supplied to Robert Walpole.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
34 in:
86.5 cm
W:
73 in:
186 cm
D:
26 in:
66 cm
7473
the Manner of William Kent 1880
An Extremely Fine Pair of French Circa Constructed in ebony with extensive and well executed cut brass decorative inlay work, and gilt bronze ornamentation; rising from toupie bronze dressed feet, the bodies of double breakfront form, the lower aprons with boxed inlays in brass; over, the single lockable doors, housing shelved interiors, bear elliptical gilt bronze plaques, one depicting a youthful Bacchus and Ariadne, the other, Venus and Cupid, tied atop with ‘lovers knot’ bows, set in complex inlaid brass foliate fields, framed by re-entrant stiff leaf bronze mounts, and being themselves within exterior raised pillars, decorated with grotesque dolphin bases, and Tuscan inspired capitols above; the upper frieze having gilt bronze guilloche panels, with platforms of Rouge Royale marbles, within bronze guard bands. The fine gilt bronze mounts marked to the reverses ‘HPR’, for Henri Picard of Paris. French. Henri Picard, a notable fondeur and doreur, is recorded as working in Paris from 1831 to 1864, from 6 rue Jarente and later at 10 rue de la Perle. Their work was highly regarded by the Emperor Napoleon III, and they supplied furniture to his apartments in Fontainebleu, now on exhibit in the Louvre.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
44 in:
112 cm
W:
39 in:
99.5 cm
D:
17.5 in:
44.5 cm
7589
Cabinets in the Louis XVIth Manner 1860
A Good Pair of Boulle Pedestals in the Louis XIV Manner
A Superb Ormolu Eight-Light Chandelier after a Design by André-Charles Boulle
Circa 1860
Circa 1870
Rising from a bracket footed plinth base of tapering central form with a platform top, inlaid with brass and tortoiseshell contre partie Buhl inlay; the plinth and top having bold gilt bronze female masks with stylised flowers radiating therefrom; profusely enhanced with gilt bronze castings. French. DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
46 in:
117 cm
W:
21.5 in:
54 cm
D:
12 in:
31 cm
6550
Emanating from a central column, the uppermost part has a gadrooned collar dressed with four female caryatids interspersed with anthemion sprays; below four rams head; the lower inverted conical section issues eight ‘S’ form arms, of square form, chased with foliates, having stiff leaf cast drip pans and baluster form nozzles, separated by mascarons of the god Pan, who is adorned with pendant laurel swags, and terminating in an acanthus-wrapped berried boss. French. A virtually identical Boulle chandelier may be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has been dated to circa 1690. Another chandelier of the same model is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu. The Boulle chandelier designs were first officially published in a folio of eight plates by Pierre-Jean Mariette between 1707 and 1730.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
29.5 in:
75 cm
D:
29 in:
74 cm
7613
A Very Fine Premiere Partie French Dressing Table in the Manner of Andre-Charles Boulle Circa 1870
Constructed in ebony, tortoiseshell and brass, and rising from cabriole legs shod with gilt bronze sabots, linked to mascarons at the angles; the top of serpentine form, with a foliate moulded bronze trim, with five shaped ebony lined drawers in the kneehole fascia; shaped stiles to the sides house a symmetrically shaped, adjustable looking glass. French. Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was received as a Maître Ébéniste in 1666, quickly becoming known as ‘the most skilful artisan in Paris’, and was appointed ‘Ébéniste du Roi’ in 1672, when he became a resident of the Louvre Palace, and was granted the especial privilege of being permitted to work in both bronze and wood. Although not the inventor of the method of inlaying the combination of ebony, tortoiseshell and brass, his ability and creative ability in the medium became at once associated with the patronymic, ‘Boulle’ and many of his masterpieces, which are represented in many museums and prestigious Royal collections throughout the world.
DIMENSIONS: H: W: D:
61 in:
REFERENCE: 155 cm
41.5 in: 105.5 cm 21 in:
53.5 cm
7604
A Monumental Pair of Urns in the Louis XVth Manner
A Fine Napoleon IIIrd Side Cabinet By Guillaume Grohé
Circa 1880
Circa 1870
Constructed in mahogany, ormolu mounted, and with a painted centre panel signed ‘Tony Faivre’. Rising from oblate bun feet, of gentle breakfront form, the central panel flanked by ormolu mounted fielded panel doors, which enclose shelved interiors, with fluted columns at the angles, with further doors in the sides; three drawers in the frieze, and surmounted by a Cararra marble platform. Stamped on the back four times by the maker ‘Grohé a Paris’. French.
Constructed in Campan Vert marble, dressed with exuberant and finely cast gilt bronze mounts; rising from square section bases, adorned with bands of intertwined laurel leaves, the waisted socles supporting baluster form bodies, and dressed with foliate gilt bronze handles, surmounted by domed covers, capped with berried finials. French.
The quarry, at Espiadet, in the Commune of Campan, Hautes-Pyrennees, was opened in Roman times, and was at its most active during the 17-19th Centuries, furnishing marble that was used in the Trianon Palace, the Hall of Mirrors and the fireplaces in the Salon de la Paix, Versailles Palace. The quarry is now closed.
Guillaume Grohé (1808-1885)
Antoine-Jean-Etienne Faivre (1830-1905) (Tony Faivre)
Born near Mainz, Germany, he and his brother JeanMichel arrived in Paris in 1827, establishing their business under the name, Grohé Frerès in 1829. First public exposition of their works was at the ‘Exposition des produits del’industrie Française’ in 1834; they exhibited at the International Exhibition of Paris 1855, and the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876, where one of his works is catalogued as a ‘masterpiece’ in the catalogue. Clients included Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, who entrusted the company to furnish a new suite of apartments in the Louvre, as well as Louis-Philippe, the Duc d’Aumale and Queen Victoria. The Parisian journal Figaro commented in January 1884 of his works ‘veritable grand maître de l’ebénisterie artistique du XIXe siécle’.
Born in Besancon, and showing at the Salon de Paris at the early age of 18, in 1848, through to 1864, he was awarded a medal for excellence; noted as a portraitist and decorator of panels and fans; one of his panels may be seen at the Besancon Fine Art Museum, and four large panels may be seen in the Monte Carlo Casino.
DIMENSIONS: DIMENSIONS: H:
47 in:
120 cm
D:
21 in:
53 cm
REFERENCE:
REFERENCE:
H:
51 in:
130 cm
7565
W:
72 in:
182 cm
D:
19.5 in:
49 cm
7602
Fine Art
‘Pompeian Women’ Cesare Marinari (1826-1901)
Oil on board, signed lower left, and dated 1874 Provenance; Lot 88 in a sale held by the Hanover Gallery, Tuesday November 8th, 1898, from the collection of Charles George Kurtz, of The Old Hall, Sandfield Park, Derby. Recorded on a label to the reverse. Marriage: 19 Dec 1893 St Mary, West Derby, Lancashire, England Charles George Kurtz – aged 56, a Manufacturing Chemist Bachelor of West Derby Sophia Mary Jane Owen - aged 43, Spinster of West Derby. The Register of Births Marriages and Deaths record the demise of Mr Kurtz in 1898. The Old Hall still stands, and its Elizabethan origins have been enlarged in the succeeding 400 years.
SIGHT SIZE:
REFERENCE:
H:
14.5 in:
37 cm
W:
10.5 in:
27 cm
7609
Cesare Marinari (1826-1901), Roman born and a pupil of Tommaso Minardi, he was noted as an architect, and as a renowned artist, being was responsible for the inauguration of the Italian Committee of Fine Art, and was made a Commander of the Order of the Italian Crown. Noted as a painter of genre and Italian history, he executed frescos in the cities of Ascoli Piceno, Teramo, and Rome. Reference, Benezit, ‘The Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Designers and Engravers’ published Grund, 1976, Volume 7, pp 179.
Fine Art
‘The Beautiful Bandurria Player’ Raimundo de Madrazo y Garretta (1841-1920)
Oil on Canvas, signed lower left, in the original swept gilt frame. Provenance: Private Collection Chateau C. Indre-et-Loire, where situated since purchased directly from the artist.
SIGHT SIZE:
REFERENCE:
H:
31.5 in:
80 cm
W:
21 in:
54 cm
7467
Raimundo de Madrazo y Garretta (Rome 1841-Versailles 1920) Son of the noted painter Federigo Madrazo; exhibitor at the Paris Salon, obtaining a First Class medal in 1878, and a gold medal in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle. Elected as a Knight of the Légion d’ honneur in 1878, and elevated to Officer of the Légion d’honneur in 1889. His works are exhibited at the Prado, Madrid, Musee d’ Orsay, Baltimore Museum of Fine Art, and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Fine Art
‘Joseph Nissim Levy’ Charles Spencelayh (1865-1958)
Oil on Canvas, signed and dated 1924 lower left. Charles Spencelayh The son of Henry Spencelayh, born 1865 near Rochester, Kent, he studied at the National Art Training School (later renamed the Royal College of Art), where he won a prize for figure drawing. Spencelayh continued his training in Paris and exhibited at the Paris Salon. He showed 30 paintings at the Royal Academy from 1912 until his death in 1958. A founder member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters; elected an honorary member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and Vice-President of the British Watercolour Society. Exhibition venues include the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, the New Gallery and the Alpine Gallery. Spencelayh also exhibited regularly in the provinces with the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, the Royal Cambrian Academy, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, the Walker Gallery, Liverpool and Manchester City Art Gallery. He held a one-man show at the Sunderland Art Gallery in 1936.
SIGHT SIZE:
REFERENCE:
H:
36 in:
91.5 cm
W:
30 in:
76 cm
7410
His patrons included Queen Mary, for whom he painted a miniature portrait of George V for Queen Mary’s celebrated Doll House, shown in the Wembley Exhibition of 1924 and now in Windsor Castle. Queen Mary’s and Princess Marie-Louise’s ‘thank you’ letter was one of Spencelayh’s most treasured possessions. Joseph Nissim Levy commissioned this portrait directly from the artist, and it has descended through the family. The work of Charles Spencelayh is represented in the Bradford City Art Gallery, the Tate Gallery, London, Manchester City Art Gallery and the Harris Museum and the Art Gallery, Preston.
Fine Art
A Highly Important Early Watercolour Illustration Translated by
Sir William Russell Flint (1880-1969) Born in Edinburgh on 4th April 1880, son of Francis Wighton Flint, a watercolour artist and designer. After attending Daniel Stewarts College, he entered the Royal Institution School of Art in Edinburgh, and then served an apprenticeship at an Edinburgh print works. In 1903 Russell Flint was taken on to the staff of the Illustrated London News as an artist illustrator. With the Illustrated London News being distributed throughout the British Empire, the name of William Russell Flint was introduced around the world, laying the foundation for the international status he later enjoyed as a watercolour artist. Between this time and the First World War, Flint also worked with book publishers successfully illustrating classics including ’The Song of Solomon’, Mallory’s ‘Morte d’Arthur, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Homer’s “Odyssey”. SIGHT SIZE:
REFERENCE:
H:
12 in:
30 cm
W:
8.5 in:
21 cm
7484
During the war Flint was in the Royal Navy Air Service and by 1918 has become Admiralty Assistant Overseer – Airships which took him back to Scotland where he renewed acquaintances with the School of Art. After leaving the Service, Flint travelled in France and Spain and began to draw and paint the landscapes and small towns, and day to day life. In 1924 he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy and became a full member nine years later. In 1936 he became President of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour. A retrospective of his work was held in 1962, with the then president, Charles Wheeler, described Sir William as having ‘baffling skill’. William Russell Flint was knighted by King George VIth in 1947, alongside Laurence Olivier and Malcolm Sargent.
by William Russell Flint, from the ‘Odyssey of Homer’ Butcher & Lang
Depicting the arrival of the shipwrecked Odysseus, meeting with Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous, and her servants, Plate 7. Signed, and dated 1914. ‘The Odyssey of Homer’. Done Into English Prose by S.H. Butcher & Andrew Lang’ was originally translated in 1889, The Medici Society publishing in 1924 a superbly printed limited edition of 600 copies, utilising the previously commissioned 20 illustrations, by Russell Flint.
Provenance With the Fine Art Society, Bond Street London in April 1958 Labelled to the reverse, ‘Odyssey, Number 7’, and Fine Art Society labels.
Fine Art
‘A Reclining Nude’
‘Napoleon at the Montereau Bridge’
Paul Sieffert (1874-1957)
Robert A. Hillingford (1828-1904)
Oil on canvas, signed lower right A noted painter of the nude feminine form, pupil of Gerome, Gabriel Guay and Maignan; exhibitor at the Paris Salon from 1894, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1902; appointed to the Légion d’honneur in 1931; member and jurist of the Committee of French Artists. Literature; Benezit, Librairie Grund, Paris 1976. Oil on canvas, depicting the bombardment of the town of Montereau, some 30 miles from Paris, held by Austrian troops under the command of Frederick 1st of Württemberg, on the 18th February 1814. This action followed the Six Day Campaign of 10-15th February, in which Napoleon smashed Allied attempts to take Paris, and routed the Austrian forces, who lost six thousand men in the engagement. Signed R. A. Hillingford (lower left).
SIGHT SIZE: H:
18 in:
46 cm
W:
31.5 in:
80.5 cm
Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904) London born, and a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and Suffolk Street. Frequently depicting scenes from the Napoleonic Wars, as well as portraits and genre subjects.
REFERENCE:
SIGHT SIZE:
7608
H:
17.25 in:
44 cm
REFERENCE:
W:
23.5 in:
60 cm
7487
Fine Art
‘Training the Horses’ Jaroslav Julius Friedrich Vesin (1860-1915) Of large size, oil on canvas, signed lower left and lower right in Cyrillic and Roman script. Born in Vrany, in central Bohemia, studying in the Prague Fine Art Academy, and later, the Munich Fine Art Academy, graduating in 1883. Later, Professor at the National Academy of Fine Art in Sofia, and working mainly in genre painting, and depictions of village life. He has many works exhibited at the National Gallery of Sofia. Reference; Benezit, Volume 10 pp 482, Librairie Grund, published 1976.
SIGHT SIZE:
REFERENCE:
H:
31 in:
79 cm
W:
55 in:
140 cm
7544
A Fine Sideboard Suite Circa Comprising an imposing pedestal sideboard, and a wine cooler; constructed in a finely figured satinwood, boldly cross banded in mahogany, with extensive and fluid inlay work in the neo-classical manner, using designs by Michaelangelo Pergolesi. The sideboard rises from tapered square section feet, the pedestals incorporating lockable cupboards, to the right, a lead lined wine bottle storage rack with shelves over, and to the left, a range of shelves with waisted square lidded urns with knop finials; two cutlery drawers are in the apron, and the lowered centre section having a domed backboard. The lockable wine cooler has canted, square section castor shod legs, is of angled sarcophagus form, with a hinged rising concave caddy top, and is fitted with a lead liner.
The work of the Adam Brothers informed the English neoclassical manner in the third quarter of the 18th century. Robert Adam’s visits to Italy occasioned his meeting with Pergolesi in Rome, whom he bought back to London to prepare a huge series of designs, which were used in the architectural and decorating schemes of the brothers. These designs were later published, and exist, even today at the Sir John Soane museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London.
DIMENSIONS: H:
REFERENCE:
73 in: 185.5 cm
W:
104 in:
265 cm
D:
30 in:
76.5 cm
7588
in the Adam Taste 1885
A Fine Side Cabinet in the Adam Manner
A Fine Pair of Pier Mirrors in the Neoclassical Adam Manner
Circa 1890
Circa 1850
Constructed in finely figured satinwood and mahogany of great depth of colour, with polychrome hand painted decoration in the style of Angelica Kauffman and Pergolesi; of arcen-arbalette form, rising from tapering square section legs, the central bowed door having a shield of satinwood framed within a mahogany border and centred with a roundel after Kauffman, with floral highlights; the flanking side panels having conforming shields, and central cartouches depicting attributes of music; the guard band on the platform has a running foliate motif.
DIMENSIONS: H:
39 in:
99 cm
W:
43.5 in:
111 cm
D:
18 in:
45 cm
Constructed in gilt wood and gesso; having elliptical mirror plates enclosed within frames exuberantly dressed with swirling foliates, having swags of pendant Harebells below, and over gilt cartouches housing ‘Sevres’ style Roi de Bleu plaques of Cupid with his bow.
REFERENCE:
DIMENSIONS:
7575
H:
59 in:
150 cm
REFERENCE:
D:
28.5 in:
72.5 cm
7601
A Good Florentine Occasional Table By H. Bosi
A Highly Decorative Screen in the Classic Manner
Circa 1870
Circa 1860 The circular pietra dura inlaid top depicting a bouquet of flowers including primula, roses, campanula and muguet using a variety of hardstones, including laps lazuli, sienna yellow and verte de mer, enclosed in a gilt highlighted frame with a running pearl and ellipse border, supported on a turned central column, the three shaped feet having further gilt highlights. Bearing the makers trade label, H. Bosi, Place S. Trinita, Florence. Italian. The Place San Trinita, adjacent to the Ponte San Trinita, is, even today an area populated by craftsmen working in carving and inlay work. A number of pieces bearing this makers label are recorded, and include small furniture and card and cigarette boxes, always worked to the highest standard.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
31 in:
79 cm
D:
18 in:
46 cm
6400
Enclosed within a three fold domed top carved gilt wood cannellure frame, dressed with foliate strapwork, the central panel depicts a capriccio Classical Roman ruin within a cartouche, and is flanked by panels showing caryatid figures supporting stylised domes, with fountains, and richly coloured floral arrangements set within urns. French.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
76 in: 193.5 cm
7490
W:
76 in: 193.5 cm
A Superb Cabinet of Exhibition Quality Circa Of important size, and using the Arc-en-Arbalette form, constructed in coromandel, ebony and harewood, with extensive exquisitely executed inlays of ivory, and comprehensively dressed with finely cast and chased fire gilt bronze mounts. Rising from toupie feet, with bronze acanthus leaves to the toes, and over, gadroon collars; the plinth having a central bronze tablet, flanked by ivory inlays in the Aesthetic taste, and ivory line inlays enclosing coromandel panels; the plinth is capped by a running bronze band of stiff leaf design, and over, four ring turned and baluster columns, in ebony, inlaid with harewood, and heightened with ivory inlays, with bronze capitols and stiff leaf trimmings enclose the open incurved ends, with three tiers of mirror plate backed shelves dressed with arcaded bronze galleries: the pair of fielded panel lockable doors have exterior bronze frameworks, with roundels to the centres, depicting scenes from Antiquity, executed in ivory inlays on ebony fields, with four symmetrically shaped coromandel panels in the reserve, and having bronze paterea set in the angles. The upper frieze has a central tablet, depicting, in bronze, a central urn, emanating intertwined foliates, and having flanking ivory inlays. The platform is dressed with a running ‘pearl’ band, in bronze, and the back has an arcaded pierced bronze rail. Stamped to one door, ‘LAMB MANCHESTER 12 10 7’. James Lamb (1816-1903), in 1843 founded one of the most successful nineteenth-century regional British cabinetmakers, and commissioned work from notable designers, such as Bruce Talbert and Alfred Waterhouse, the designer of Manchester Town Hall. The quality of the firm’s work was consistently high, and received the judges’ commendation for their ‘Art Furniture’ at the 1862 London Great Exhibition, exhibited at the Paris 1867 Exposition Universelle, and won a Gold Medal First Class for a cabinet in the Paris 1878 exhibition. A very fine aesthetic movement cabinet by Lamb is displayed in the Manchester City Art Gallery.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
46.5 in:
118 cm
W:
81.5 in:
207 cm
D:
19 in:
47 cm
7597
By James Lamb of Manchester 1870
A Magnificent Wall Mirror By Giovanni Battista Gatti Circa 1880
Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum
Constructed in ebony, with extensive ivory inlay in the Neo-Renaissance manner, and engraved ivory roundels of notable Italians of the Trecento, Quattrocento Cinquecento and Seicento, as well as Aristotle;- and, four ivory inlaid cats, a visual pun on ‘gatti’, - the Italian for ‘cats’. Of rectangular architectural form, the central reserve with a bevelled mirror plate surrounded by eight profile roundels, interspersed with complex arabesque foliates, interconnected by mascarons, mythological animals and putti; an outer running guard border in an ivory band; the frame flanked by spandrels, with a shaped cornice and pendant, with further conforming decoration. Stamped to the reverse G.B. Gatti Italian.
Giovanni Battista Gatti (1816-1889) was one of the most distinguished European ébénistes of the 19th century. Having studied in Rome and Florence, he worked as a journeyman cabinet-maker before establishing his own workshop at Faenza in the 1870’s specialising the Milanese intarsia manner with ivory on a background of ebony. Ill health saw him ceasing work in 1881. Working in the Renaissance Revival manner pioneered in the first half of the century by craftsman such as Pietro Bertinetti, Gatti and his Italian contemporaries helped to establish this style as a dominant aesthetic mode in the 1860’s and 1870’s. He enjoyed the support of imperial, aristocratic and ecclesiastical patrons in Europe including the Austrian Emperor, the Duke of Hamilton and Cardinal Amant, and was also popular amongst American industrial collectors such as Wright E Post and William Gilstrap. Examples of his work are found not only in the Victorian and Albert Museum, but also in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Gatti’s spectacular inlaid exhibition pieces gained him numerous awards at Europe’s international industrial and cultural expositions: at the ‘Paris Expositions Universelles’ (First Class Medal 1855; diplôme d’honneur, 1867; Gold Medal 1878) and at ‘Vienna’s Internationalische Ausstellung’ (1873).
DIMENSIONS:
The Victoria & Albert Museum London, posseses two wall mirrors by Gatti, one of which is very similar to ours, which the museum purchased at the Paris 1878 Universelle Exposition.These pieces are illustrated in Enrico Colle’s ‘Il Mobile Dell’ Ottocento in Italia’ published by Electa of Milano in 2007.
REFERENCE:
H:
33 in:
84 cm
W:
22 in:
56 cm
7452
A Good Pair of Venetian Blackamoor Torcheres
A Pair of Venetian Blackamoor Stools
Circa 1880
Circa 1870 The male and female figures in carved wood, ebonised, and decorated in polychrome arabesques, with gilt highlights, wear Turkish attire, and have ivory teeth and agate and mother of pearl eyes, and stand on octagonal stepped plinths, and hold dishes on their heads. Venetian. Provenance Purchased from Partridge of Bond Street, circa 1954. In England, from the Jacobean period until the late nineteenth century, it became fashionable to have blackamoors as exotically dressed retainers, since their darks skins set of the European ideal of women being pale skinned beauties. Venice, the end of the silk route, counted amongst their many exotic imports and exports, ‘Moors’; Shakespeare’s ‘Othello, the Moor of Venice’ highlights the esteem in which they were held.
A ‘true’ pair of figures, constructed in carved wood, are decorated in polychromes with gilt accents depicting reclining figures, resting on serpentine bases, wearing oriental attire, and holding running pleated drapes, with upholstered tops over. Italian.
DIMENSIONS: DIMENSIONS: H:
59 in:
149 cm
REFERENCE:
REFERENCE:
H:
24 in:
61 cm
7581
W:
24 in:
61 cm
D:
16 in:
40 cm
7614
Circa 1870
Although it is very rare for pieces ordered by Royalty to come onto the market, we were fortunate to have had the opportunity to acquire four such pieces in the past year. The silver gilt christening cup was commanded of Thomas Heming, the Royal silversmith by George the Third and presented to a godchild, identical to a cup in the Royal Collection; the octagonal centre table in the Gothick taste was ordered by George the Fourth for the refurbishing scheme of Windsor Castle; the cabinet by Henry Dasson the celebrated ebeniste, was in the possession of the Duchess of Montmorency and finally, the remarkable dressing table that was commanded from the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company of Regent Street, by the His Exalted Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad, regarded by Time Magazine as the richest man in the world, whose diamond mines at Kollur gave forth the Koh-I-Noor diamond, now in the Crown Jewels and the Great Mogul Diamond of 787 cts. These four pieces epitomize the grandeur of Kingship.
Constructed in premiere partie inlay work of brass on a ground of tortoiseshell, richly decorated with finely cast and planished gilt bronze ornamentation; rising from toupie feet, the two doors having a dividing stile, separating the discoursing figures of Socrates and Aspasia, over whom is a canopy of medallions depicting the Cardinal Virtues, all housed within a gilt bronze stiff leaf framework having substantial bronze scrolling clasps to the angles, and with a female mask to the centre; a platform of Campana marble rest on gilt bronze ‘egg and dart’ running moulding. Signed to the rear, top right, ‘Henry Dasson’. French.
Henry Dasson (1825-1896) established at 106 Rue Vielle du-Temple, was one of the most celebrated Parisien bronzier ebenistes. His work is renowned for the fine metalworking, cabinet making,and faithfulness of execution; inspiration was drawn from the designs of the ancien regime, and adapting them to conform with the needs of the times. He participated at the Expositions Universelles in 1878 and 1889 and examples of his work were purchased by the English Royal Family. DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
52 in:
132 cm
W:
48 in:
122 cm
D:
18 in:
47 cm
7631
By Royal Command
A Magnificent Cabinet after a Model By Andre-Charles Boulle, and Made By Henry Dasson, from the Collection of a French Royal Family
By Royal Command
Provenance Gabrielle Ida Lefaive, Duchess of Montmorency (1896-1985) The original model is to be seen at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. This cabinet is part of an important series of armoires of medium height which have been studied by Alexandre Pradère, “Les Armoires á Médailles de l’Histoire de Louis XIV par Boulle et ses suiveurs”, in Revue de l’Art, no. 116, 1997, pp. 42-53. This series was created by André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) after 1700, and its production was continued in the Boulle workshops during the first third of the 18th century. The prototype was almost certainly a medal cabinet such as the one now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford which is fitted with vertical rows of drawers for the storage of medals. Fully packed with medals, the cabinet would have been extraordinarily heavy which necessitated the additional central foot. The concept of a medal cabinet was further illustrated by the use of medals, or casts of medals, as decorative devices on the front doors. In fact, these armoires were not frequently fitted with drawers for medals, and were made to serve a variety of purposes, most usually as bookcases, the central foot was retained although it no longer served a useful purpose.
Circa Constructed in mahogany in the form of a kneehole desk with a modesty screen, rising from Chippendale style carved bracket feet, the banks of pedestals fitted with lockable faux drawers to the left, concealing a safe, and drawers to the right, fitted with ormolu chased swan neck handles; the lockable and hinged panelled top rising to reveal an adjustable triptych bevelled dressing mirror, with provisions for a pair of scallop shaded electrical lights, and having an enclosed body, fitted with an array of cut glass unguent bottles, all with Hall Marked silver tops, enamelled with an Art Deco design, and bearing wonderfully detailed portraits of the Nizam in regal Indian dress, and all the necessary accoutrements of shoe horns, button hooks, combs, brushes, clippers, files and etc, for a ladies toilet.
DIMENSIONS (open):
REFERENCE:
H:
60 in:
153 cm
7627
W:
89 in:
225 cm
D:
28.5 in:
72 cm
for His Exalted Highness Osman Ali, Silversmiths Company Ltd of London 1930
By Royal Command
A Remarkable Ladies Dressing Table made the Nizam of Hyderabad, By the Goldsmiths &
By Royal Command
Nawab Badahur Osman Ali (1886-1967) THE WEALTHIEST MAN IN THE WORLD TIME MAGAZINE 22nd FEBRUARY 1937 In 1937, with a fortune estimated at 2 billion dollars, he was the absolute ruler of 16 million people in the state of Hyderabad and the highest-ranking prince of India. As an autonomous state, His Exalted Highness established his own bank and issued his own currency: the Hyderabadi rupee. The Nizam was both a charitable and generous man whose financial contributions to Britain’s war effort earned him the post-World War I title of “Faithful Ally of the British Crown.” During the First World War he purchased and presented to the RAF a squadron of bombers, that was named the Hyderabad Squadron, and equipped the Australian Navy with a destroyer, HMAS Nizam. The honorific ‘Nizam’ an abbreviation of ‘Nizam-ulMulk’, translating as ‘Administrator of the Realm’ was the title given to the native sovereigns of Hyderabad State in their capacity as regents of the Mughal Empire, under the Asaf Jahn dynasty, in 1719. In the mid 1720s, with the fall of the Mughals, Asaj Jahn 1st declared independence of the Hyderabad State. Seven successive Nizams ruled, for the next two centuries, until the partition of India in 1947, and the State of Hyderabad was integrated into India in September 1948. H.E.H Osman Ali ruled from 1911 until 1948.
Knighted by the Crown, Osman Ali was awarded, inter alia, the following decorations; 1. Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India 2. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire 3. The Royal Victorian Chain 4. The King George Vth Silver Jubilee Medal 5. King George VIth Coronation Medal The Nizam in Royal Regalia
The Nizam and his nine wives
The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd The company began trading in 1880 as the ‘Manufacturing Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Ltd’ with extensive premises, covering a quarter of an acre, at 112 Regent Street, having been established by William Gibson and John Langman, who had their marks registered at both the London and Sheffield Assay Offices. In 1889 they acquired Mappin Brothers, followed by the acquisition in 1893 with the Goldsmiths Alliance (A B Savory & Sons), further acquiring Garrard & Co (established in 1725, the Crown Jewellers, a title bestowed on the company by Queen Victoria in 1843), in 1952: in 1959 Mappin and Webb took over the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd. The company had participated in International exhibitions in the Philadelphia Centennial exhibition of 1876, Paris in 1889 and, 1900, winning the Grand Prix prize, with William Gibson being made a chevalier of the Légion d’honneur.
The leaf cast cover has a Royal Crown finial and laurel wreath rim, the urn being cast with Vitruvian scrolls and the Royal Crest, the Montagu coat of arms on the reverse, the handles with trailing bellflowers, on a lobed socle ending in a laurel garland circular foot and square base, inscribed on the interior rim of the cover: ‘This cup was given by His Majesty King George the 3rd (sic) to his godson The Hon. George Montagu Born ye 4th of Feb, Baptized ye 5th of March 1773’. Hallmarks for London 1771/2. Total weight approximately 71 ounces. Provenance: Gift of King George the Third to his Godson, George John Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich, later Viscount Hinchingbrooke.
Thomas Heming (1722-1801) Born in Ludlow, Shropshire, and apprenticed in 1738 to the Huguenot French silversmith, Pierre Archambo, entering his mark in 1745, and becoming a Freeman in 1746. After this date he executed works for George the Second, and was appointed Royal Goldsmith by George the Third on his accession to the throne in 1760, providing all the plate and regalia for the Coronation. This exalted post he held until his retirement in 1782/3 when the Royal Jewel House was abolished, after the Lord Chamberlain insisted on a closer perusal of the outgoings incurred by the Crown. Volume CXVII of the tract ‘The Royal Goldsmiths and the Jewel House’, published by the Archaeological Journal notes that Heming was the first goldsmith since the English Civil War to have a registered maker’s mark of his own allied to the throne, exalting him to an artisan of a very superior kind, albeit one who was well aware of his worth. The Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second contains thirty five pieces of Heming’s works, including three christening cups, one of which appears identical to ours (qv). His works are to be found in major collections and museums, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inter alia, and the Kunstindustrimuseum in Copenhagen possesses a thirty piece dressing service presented to Caroline Matilde, the sister of George the Third, on the occasion of her marriage to King Christian the Fourth of Denmark George John Montagu (4 February 1773 - 21 May 1818) Eldest son of John Montagu, the Fifth Earl of Sandwich, and Lady Mary Henrietta Powlett, he was styled Viscount Hinchingbroke from 1790 until 1814.
DIMENSIONS: H:
14.5 in:
REFERENCE: 36 cm
7551
By Royal Command
A Highly Important Royal Christening Cup in Silver Gilt By Thomas Heming, the Royal Goldsmith, and Presented By George the Third in 1773
Circa Constructed in oak, of octagonal form, rising from block feet; the conformingly shaped base having vertical lancet panels over an ogee plinth; the top having four drawers in the frieze, with conforming lancet mouldings, fitted with serpentine bronze ornate handles of gothic form; the edge with a thumbnail moulding, having an inset baize top. Stamped with the crowned ‘VR’, the inventory year ‘1873’, ‘Windsor Castle Room 551’. An inveterate builder and refurbisher, George IVth turned his attentions to Windsor Castle in the mid 1820s, and commanded Jeffry Wyattville (later ennobled to a knight for his efforts) to oversee the architectural work, with Nicholas Morel, who had worked with His Majesty on both the Brighton Pavilion and Carlton House, as furniture designer. Morel formed a partnership with George Seddon, of the long established cabinet makers, T&G Seddon, of Aldersgate, and thus Morel & Seddon of 13 Great Marlborough Street were formed in 1827. Gothic architecture being one aspect of His Majesty’s tastes (which also included Mughal, chinoiserie, Louis XV, Louis XVI, and Andre Charles Boulle), the precocious and youthful A.W.N. Pugin was employed in 1827 to, in his own words, ‘design and make working drawings for the Gothic furniture of Windsor Castle at £1.1.0 per day for the following rooms. The Long Gallery, the Vestibule ante-rooms, Halls, Grand Staircase, Octagon Room in the Brunswick Tower (Room 551), and the Great Dining Room’. This sentence is extracted from the Victoria & Albert Museum records of Pugin’s notes for his uncompleted autobiography. Today, Windsor Castle exhibits examples of Pugin’s designs, with several of his pieces showing the use of the double ended lancets seen on our table. Augustus Welby Northcote Pugin (1812-1852) The English born son of a French draughtsman and a diplomat’s daughter, a convert to Roman Catholicism, hugely endowed with precocious talents, collaborating with his father between 1821 and 1838 to produce four books, variously entitled ‘Ornament of the 15 & 16th Centuries’ ‘Specimens of Gothic Architecture’ and ‘Examples of Gothic Architecture’ and ‘Principles of True Christian Architecture’, that became recognised a basic and never improved upon exegesis of the Gothic design; designer, under Sir Charles Barry, of the present Houses of Parliament, its’ exterior, interiors, including furniture and wallpaper, aged 23; designer and draughtsman of many churches (13 in Ireland alone), cathedrals in England and Australia, as well as many schools and houses in the Gothic manner.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
31 in:
79 cm
D:
60 in:
153 cm
7606
Centre Table made for George IVth Firmly Attributed to A.W.N. Pugin 1830
By Royal Command
A Highly Important Gothic for Windsor Castle, the Design
A Rare Colonial Breakfront Bookcase in Calamander Wood
A Very Fine Writing Desk Firmly Attributed to Wright & Mansfield
Circa 1830
Circa 1860
Of four door breakfront form, rising from a plinth base; the four blind panelled doors enclosing shelved interiors, interspersed with free standing lotus capped columns: the upper section with four glazed doors with carved lancet arch astragals, betwixt conforming columns, and surmounted with an everted cornice. Coromandel Coast Region. DIMENSIONS:
Our bookcase has concordances with designs illustrated in Thomas King’s 1829 edition of ‘The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified’ and John Loudon’s 1833 ‘Encyclopedia of Cottage, Fram & Villa Architecture & Furniture’.
Constructed in coromandel, with extensive gilt brass work fittings; rising from castor shod toupie feet, the two pedestals housing three lockable graduated drawers, with gilt brass cock beadings, and foliate cast swan neck handles; three long drawers in the apron, the fielded panelled sides having fitted extensible slides; the writing surface with an inset tooled leather, and having an outer moulded gilt brass guard edging; the superstructure of gilt brass trellis work, housed within turned and fluted columns, incorporating an upper shelf with an arcaded gilt brass gallery.
Calamander, sometimes known as Coromandel, is indigeneous to South East India, Ceylon and Asia, and is a member of the Ebony genus.
A virtually identical desk stamped Wright & Mansfield 104 New Bond Street, but in satinwood, was offered on the London market in June 2004.
REFERENCE:
DIMENSIONS:
7444
H:
36.5 in:
REFERENCE:
H:
94 in:
239 cm
93 cm
W:
106 in:
270 cm
W:
54 in: 1367 cm
D:
21 in:
54 cm
D:
22 in:
56 cm
1766
A Very Fine Pair of Library Cabinets Circa
Constructed using Cuban mahogany of the finest quality and marking, that has acquired a truly magnificent colour and patination; rising from plinth bases, each having a single door, housing trellis brass work, with separately cast petals at the interstices; the doors having carved wood knob handles mirroring the brass petals; the interiors are shelved, and framed within Ionic type columns issuing from ring turned bases, and adorned with leaf dressed capitols; the cabinets are a true pair, opening from the left and right, the platforms have three quarter galleries, with an ogee rail supported with turned spindles. The combination of a restrained and elegant design, whilst using timber of the finest quality and colour would suggest these pieces were made by cabinet makers of the first rank, and Gillows of Lancaster or T & G Seddon of London have been suggested as the possible makers.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
59 in:
150 cm
W:
36 in:
92 cm
D:
22 in:
56 cm
7516
of the late Georgian Period 1825
A Fine Pair of Georgian Circa
Constructed in a well patinated Honduras mahogany cross banded in kingwood; rising from spade footed square section tapered legs, with elliptical labial paterae dressing the angles; the hinged tops supported by gate legs, and having inset baize playing surfaces.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
29 in:
74 cm
W:
36 in:
92 cm
D:
18 in:
46 cm
7491
Hepplewhite Card Tables 1790
A Regency Period Extending Dining Table in the Circa
Constructed in mahogany, and rising from ten castor shod, ring turned and lobed legs, extensible by use of the ‘Wilkinson Patent Concertina Action’, the top having radiused corners and a thumbnail moulding, with four additional leaves, set over the ebonised banded frieze. Thomas & William Wilkinson, of 9/10 Brokers Row, Moorfields, London were specialist makers of dining tables and in 1807 patented a ‘concertina’ or ‘scissor action’ that permitted their table to be either greatly reduced or expanded in length. Reference; The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, edited by Geoffrey Beard & Christopher Gilbert, published by the Furniture History Society, 1986.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
29 in:
74 cm
W:
54 in:
136 cm
L:
146 in:
370 cm
7646
Manner of Wilkinson of Moorfields, London 1815
A Graceful Pair of Regency Library ‘Bergere’ Armchairs
An Oversized Folio Stand in the Louis XVIth Manner Made for Kinross House, Scotland
Circa 1815
Circa 1880
In simulated rosewood, standing on brass capped sabre legs. The horseshoe shaped back encloses a double caned back, sides and seat, with suede squab cushions. The front rail is decorated with bronze roundels flanking a floral tablet. In the Roman taste, as translated and formulated in Ackermann’s ‘Repository of the Arts’, published in 1812 and seen in the drawing opposite.
Constructed in mahogany, with gilt bronze accents; rising from swept sabre legs, dressed with gilt bronze pendant bellflowers, and mounted with lions paw castor shod feet, having serpentine reeded uprights, with stiff leaf bronze mounts, enclosing lyre form central panels, with turned gilt bronze toprails. DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
34.5 in:
87 cm
W:
21.5 in:
55 cm
D:
20.5 in:
52 cm
7650
Provenance Kinross House, overlooking Loch Leven, Scotland, formerly the property of Sir Basil Templar Graham-Montgomery, 5th Baronet of Stanhope. Constructed in the late 17th Century, by Scotland’s greatest classical architect, Sir William Bruce Bt.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
28 in:
71.5 cm
W:
28.5 in:
72.5 cm
D:
25 in:
64 cm
7654
A Fine Pair of Pedestal Desks Circa
Constructed in rosewood, with gilt bronze mounts and giltwood highlights; of freestanding form, with very gentle inverted breakfront plinths, each pedestal housing three cedar lined quadrant moulded drawers, with faux drawers to the apron, mounted with high quality laurel wreath model handles, the apron dressed with Graeco-Roman paterae at the upper quadrants and stiles; the sides having fielded panels with gilt enhancements. The tops fitted with inset tooled leather writing surfaces.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
32.5 in:
82 cm
W:
60 in:
153 cm
D:
35 in:
89 cm
7492
in the Regency Manner 1910
A Fine Escritoire in the Circa The case constructed in mahogany, with gilt bronze accents; rising from inverted truncated pyramidical legs; the platform of Verte de Mer marble with a thumbnail moulded edge, a long drawer below, with the fielded panelled fall front having running pearl band gilt bronze mouldings, and enclosing a splendid interior of architectural form, in thuyawood, in the form of an enclosed palazzo atrium, flanked by banks of small drawers, with a long drawer under, with a tooled leather writing surface, the whole set between brass inlaid columns with Corinthian capitols. Below, a pair of bronze dressed blind & lockable doors house a shelved interior, housed between conforming brass inlaid columns. French.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
53 in:
135 cm
W:
28 in:
71.5 cm
D:
17 in:
43.5 cm
7603
Louis XVIth Manner 1880
A Fine Louis XVIth Style Occasional Table in the Manner of Molitor
A Magnificent Pair of Fauteuils By Jacob Frères
Circa 1870
Circa 1800 Constructed in kingwood and gilt bronze ormolu; rising from toupie feet, the lower tier with radially laid veneers, and having an arcaded gallery, and supporting three gilt bronze female caryatids; the panelled frieze dressed with bold gilt bronze Vitruvian scrolls, interspersed with paterae: the platform being a Rouge Royale marble top enclosed within a gilt bronze gallery. French. Born in Luxembourg, Bernard Molitor became a Maître Ébéniste in 1787 His style at this phase of his career was in the late Louis XVI taste and comparable to the best work of Adam Weisweiler. By 1800 he had fully embraced the fashionable Empire style, informed by Percier & Fontaine, using woods counterpointed by rich gilt bronze decorations, inspired by antique Roman and Greek models. His clientele included Marie Antoinette, and other members of the Royal ancien régime, as well as Napoleon and the Garde Meuble of the French Government.
Jacob
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
30.5 in:
70 cm
D:
17 in:
43 cm
7422
The Jacob dynasty began in 1765, with Georges Jacob (1739-1796), a native of Burgundy supplying furniture to Louis XVth at the young age of 26. Two of his three sons entered the family business, Georges and Francois-Honore Georges. Jacob Senior retired in 1796, at which point the furniture was stamped ‘Jacob Frères Rue Meslee’ until the death of Georges Junior in 1803. The business continued until 1847, having counted Louis XVIth, Napoleon and Josephine Buonaparte, Charles Dix, and Louis Phillipe among its’ notable clientele. Their work may be seen in the Elysee Palace, Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, Compiegne, Fontainbleau, The Louvre Museum, and the Chateau Malmaison, inter alia. The great strengths of the company were their ability to read the zeitgeist of the period, and be on the leading edge of design, drawing inspiration from the foremost arbiters of taste; Percier and Fontaine, and the artist David were amongst their sources, and, importantly, the quality of their choice of materials, and the superb execution of every object they made.
Constructed in mahogany, the front arms being carved with Pharonic figures, capped by orbs, with a bronze divider, undulating down to pied de griffe feet; the padded arms having elegantly stiff carved lotus leaf decoration, conjoining the square section back: the toprails having very fine mercury gilt bronze mounts, retaining the original dusty gold ormolu finish; anthemions flanking a Palmyran sunburst with trims issuing therefrom; drawn from plate 29, the design of an armchair drawn by Percier and Fontaine (qv). Upholstered backs and arms, the seats having squab cushions. Signed to the front of the frames ‘Jacob Frères, Rue Meslee’. A similar armchair is illustrated by Denise Ledoux LeBard, in her ‘Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Cabinet Makers’. French.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
38 in:
96 cm
W:
26 in:
66 cm
D:
21 in:
53 cm
3185
A Good Pair of Meubles d’Appui of the Napoleon IIIrd Period Circa 1870
Constructed in kingwood, with gilt bronze accents; rising from plinth bases with everted and radiused corners; of single door form, each lockable, and having elliptical central marquetry panels of musical and martial trophies set in foliate surroundings, housed within a predominant trellis ground, and enclosing shelved interiors. The sides with ebony panels cross banded with kingwood, with strong gilt bronze floral paterae. The platforms are of shaped white Carrara marble. French.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
42 in:
106 cm
W:
30.5 in:
77 cm
D:
16 in:
41 cm
7564
A Quite Remarkable Historical Circa
Centre Table of the Georgian Period 1830
Of good size, constructed in burr elm, with the scalloped top showing very carefully chosen radial feathered veneers, the moulded edge having bellflower carvings, and supported on a gently curved truncated pyramid, the lappeted feet carved in the Regency Grecian manner, with brass castors. The seated hand carved central figures are Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, George Washington, the First President of the United States, and Napoleon Buonaparte, First Consul of France, all adjacent to their country motifs, the Union Jack, the Stars, and the French Imperial Eagle. The piece was quite evidently a special order, and the curious juxtaposition of France, The United States and England, either allies, in the case of the States and France during the American War of Independence against England, and enemies, as in the case of Wellington and Buonaparte.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
30 in:
76 cm
D:
62 in:
158 cm
2792
George Washington
Napoleon Buonaparte
Duke of Wellington
A Good Partners Writing Desk Circa
Back of desk
Constructed in burr walnut; of inverted breakfront form, rising from carved ogee bracket feet, and having an arrangement of nine lockable drawers, dressed with bead and reel mouldings to one side, the obverse fitted as shelved cupboards; the canted corners having foliate carved stiles, and the sides with re-entrant cock beaded panels: the writing surface with an inset tooled burgundy leather.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
30.5 in:
79 cm
W:
66 in:
168 cm
D:
41.5 in:
105 cm
4742
in the Georgian Taste 1910
A Fine Looking Glass in the Manner of Matthias Lock
A Magnificent Library Centre Table of Exhibition Quality of the George IVth Period, in the Manner of Morel & Seddon
Circa 1880
Circa 1830 The carved gilt wood frame houses a Vauxhall plate glass, having flanking caryatides issuing from foliates and scrolls to the sides, with addorsed ‘C’ scrolls to the base, the wing spandrels dressed with icicle waterfalls; over, a phoenix arises, within a framework of asymmetrical ribbed scrollwork, and a leaf finial. Matthias Lock (c. 1710-1765) Matthias Lock is recorded as one of a number of joiners and carvers bearing the same name and probably members of the same family which appears to span three generations. He was described by a pupil, and fellow designer and carver, Thomas Johnson, as ‘the famous Matthias Lock, the most excellent carver, and reputed to be the best ornament draughts-man in Europe’. In 1744 he published ‘Six Designs for Sconces’ and, in 1746, ‘Six designs for Tables’. Christopher Gilbert is surely correct in remarking that his rococo work influenced Thomas Chippendale’s designs, whose ‘Gentleman & Cabinet-Makers Directory’ was first published in 1754. This mirror follows plate IV in Lock’s ‘Six designs for Sconces’ published in 1744.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
74 in:
188 cm
W:
49 in:
125 cm
7566
Constructed in amboyna, with holly and specimen woods used in the inlays; rich and extensive employment of carving and gilding of exceptional quality; the table of end support form, conjoined by an addorsed tapering ring turned stretcher, carved with lobes; the end supports of triangulated form, rising from platforms supported by winged claw feet, carved with gilded foliates and acanthus leaves, with a stylised thyrsus staff issuing leaves and tendrils, inlaid in holly; the sides sumptuously carved with gilded foliates; the serpentine top having pendant teardrop gilded finials at the angles; the thumbnail moulded edge gilded, having a running band of holly inlaid flowering anthemion in the outer reserve, and an exuberantly inlaid marquetry posy of spring flowers, in exotic woods to the centre.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
28.5 in:
72 cm
W:
56.5 in:
143 cm
D:
27 in:
68 cm
7567
Morel & Seddon of 13 Great Marlborough Street London The partnership of Nicholas Morel, who had formerly worked for the Prince of Wales, later George IVth, on his residences at Carlton House and the Brighton Pavilion since the cusp of the 18th/19th Centuries, and George Seddon, of the large and established cabinet makers Seddon and Sons of Aldersgate Street came into being in 1827, when Morel, of French extraction, was awarded by George IVth the monumental task of refurbishing the apartments at Windsor Castle; his partner of choice was Seddon, whose expertise was coupled with a large workforce, as they were noted as the largest cabinet makers in London in the 18th Century, thus having the capacity to process large orders. The Windsor Castle commission was worth almost £200,000 to the company. Hugh Roberts book, ‘For the King’s Pleasure’, published by Royal Collection Enterprises in 2001 illustrates many of the pieces made for the commission, and concordances may be noted between these, and our Library Table. The firm seemed to have had the Crown as their main clients, with further work being carried out for William IVth, although a large commission was carried out for the Marquess of Stafford in 1830 worth £15,000. Morel’s name disappears from the records in 1831, and the company of G & T Seddon, although awarded the Royal Warrant in 1832, had great difficulty in extracting the £200,000 from the Crown for the Windsor commission, which led to a near bankruptcy in 1840. The firm eventually closed in 1868.
Sources The Dictionary of English Furniture makers 1660-1840, published Furniture History Society 1986 ‘George IVth and the Furnishing of Windsor Castle, de Bellaigue & Kirkham, published Furniture History Society 1972 John Pollard Seddon, ‘Memoirs’, published 1858 ‘For the King’s Pleasure’ Hugh Roberts 2001 ‘Sophie in London’ Sophie Von La Roche 1786
A Fine & Rare Pair of Commodes Circa
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
33 in:
84 cm
W:
38 in:
97 cm
D:
17.5 in:
44.5 cm
7576
Constructed in kingwood, with finely cast and chased gilt bronze mounts: rising from tapering columnar legs shod with gilt bronze sabots, and over, conforming foliate cast capitols; two drawers, having quarter veneer facings mounted with serpentine handles, having corne d’abondance key escutcheons, set between fluted pilasters with pendant bellflower gilt bronze insets; the thumbnail moulded tops of Breche d’Alep marble. French.
in the Louis XVIth Manner 1870
A Finely Patinated Bust of a Woman by Emile Louis Jespers
An Important Pair of Wall Appliques in the Louis XVth Style
Circa 1900
Circa 1880 The bust sited on a fine, well executed turned antico verde marble base with bronze feet signed by the artist, right. E.L. Jespers (1862-1918) Antwerp born, receiving an honourable mention in the 1893 Paris Salon, and the Brussels Exposition of 1910; the Antwerp Fine Art Museum exhibits his work.
Cast in two colour bronze, gilt and patinated: herms of Bacchus and a Maenad, clad in foliate and berry dressed robes, terminating in pine cone finials, issue four sinuous candle arms, drilled for electricity, with vasiform fluted lamp holders, and berried drip pans. French. DIMENSIONS: H:
30 in:
76 cm
REFERENCE:
DIMENSIONS:
7623
H:
37 in:
REFERENCE: 94 cm
7527
A Remarkable Black Forest Mantle Clock
A Fine Bureau Plat in the Louis XVth Manner
Circa 1890
Circa 1850 Carved from lindenwood, representing a pair of alert horned owls atop a rocky outcrop, with a brickwork wall within a circlet of oak leaves, a cat hiding below, the sculpture fitted with a circular enamelled dial clock, of eight day duration, and striking the hours. The owls and cat have luminous glass eyes. Black Forest Area, probably Brienz. Brienz, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland Brienz, in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland was remarked upon in Baedeker’s Travel Guide, as having a population of 2400, of whom 600 persons were employed as woodcarvers, to supply the tourist trade to Switzerland with mementos of the tour. A museum devoted entirely to the art of wood carving may be visited today. Literature; ‘Swiss Carvings, The Art of the Black Forest’ by Arenski, Daniels and Daniels, published by The Antique Collectors Club 2004 has similar examples.
Of freestanding form, constructed in Circassian walnut, ebony, kingwood as primary woods, with mother-of-pearl and ivory inlays, fitted with sharply cast and planished gilt bronze mounts; rising from cabriole legs, shod with foliate bronze sabots issuing scrolls to the spandrels; the gilt bronze rimmed serpentine form top crossbanded, with a central cartouche depicting a scene from the chase inlaid on an ebony ground, with inlaid foliates, masks, birds and butterflies in the outer reserve. The shaped frieze housing three lockable oak lined drawers with quadrant mouldings, being dressed with conforming marquetry inlays.
DIMENSIONS: DIMENSIONS: H:
27.5 in:
70 cm
REFERENCE:
REFERENCE:
H:
29 in:
75 cm
7163
W:
55 in:
140 cm
D:
32 in:
82 cm
7273
A Very Fine Pair of Carved Wooden Figures By Thomas H. Tweedy Circa 1860 Constructed in walnut, carved with extraordinary detailing, of two French knights of the Fifteenth century, Jean Sanspeur (John the Fearless), and Charles Temeraire (Charles the Bold), in battle armour, individually titled, and signed with the makers name to the reverse. Thomas Hall Tweedy (1816-1903): Northumberland born, established his workshops in Grainger Street, Newcastle on Tyne, and was noted for the remarkable attention to detail and historical accuracy in his output, which incorporated plaques, frames, statues as well as large pieces of furniture. At the Great Exhibition of 1862, he exhibited the ‘Robinson Crusoe Sideboard’, which is discussed at length in JB Waring’s ‘Masterpieces of Industrial Art at the Great Exhibition of 1862’, and notes;“Few objects in the Exhibition attracted more attention than the Robinson Crusoe Sideboard...the carved panels picture leading incidents in the ever-famous story, they are exceedingly well executed, and certainly the work merits the very general popularity it undoubtedly obtained”. A less complex ‘Robinson Crusoe Sideboard’ is in the Victorian & Albert Museum, his monumental ‘William Shakespeare Sideboard’ is exhibited presently at the Shipley Art Museum, Gateshead, and the Burns Museum possesses three carvings based on extracts from Rabbie Burns poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’. Jean Sanspeur (1371-1419), Duke of Burgundy, earned his soubriquet after the 1396 Battle of Nicopolis, against the Ottoman Turks, occasioning his father, Philip the Second of Valois, to found The Order of The Golden Fleece, awarded for bravery in war. The Tour de Jean Sanspeur in the Rue Etienne Marcel is one of the very few mediaeval buildings to exist in present day Paris. Charles Temeraire (1433-1477), Duke of Burgundy, a grandson of Jean Sanpeur, prosecuted Burgundian claims against the French King, Louis XIth, forcing on the king a punitive treaty, reclaiming territories in Flanders, and towns in the Somme, including Boulogne.
DIMENSIONS: H:
26 in:
REFERENCE: 66 cm
1788
Charles Temeraire
Jean Sanspeur
The Stokesay Court Indian Screen Circa 1870
The finely executed Indian embroidered ivory silk panels, Gold and Silver thread, depict exotic birds in landscapes, and are housed within a bespoke leaf carved three fold mahogany frame made by Hampton & Sons of Pall Mall London. Provenance: Stokesay Court, Shropshire. Having its origins in the Thirteenth Century, Stokesay Castle was purchased in 1869 by the eminent Victorian businessman and philanthropist, John Derby Allcroft (1821-1893), who employed one of the leading London furnishers and furniture makers, Hamptons of Pall Mall, to refurbish the house after its restoration and modernisation. Hampton & Sons Ltd of Pall Mall East, Trafalgar Square London Established in 1830 in Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square by William Hampton, later being joined by his sons, George and William, the company moved to 8 Pall Mall East, adjacent to Trafalgar Square, in very large premises, trading as builders and surveyors, estate agents, ‘antique and modern furniture dealers’, general furnishers, upholsterers, plumbers and electricians. Their commissions included, inter alia, the furnishing of the Royal Yacht Britannia, the liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, the Theatre Royal in Drury lane, and the palaces of the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maharajah of Kashmir. An incendiary bomb destroyed the building in 1940, after which they moved to Kensington High Street, where they traded until 1960. Stokesay Castle A quite remarkable surviving example of a fortified manor house whose origins in c.1240 under John de Verdon were completed in c.1281 by Lawrence of Ludlow, a wealthy wool merchant, incorporating defensive architecture, including a moat, mindful of the defeat of the Welsh King Llywelyn the Last, by Edward the First of Britain in 1282. Involved in a skirmish in the Civil War, the fabric of the building was undamaged, and although it suffered the ravages of time, from the beginning of the 19th century, restoration had begun, and was completed by J.D. Allcroft. The property is now cared for by the National Trust.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
76.5 in:
194 cm
W:
82.5 in:
210 cm
4685
A Magnificent Long Set of Fourteen Dining Circa Taking the design from a ‘ribband back chair’ delineated in Plate XV in Chippendale ‘Director’: constructed in mahogany, and comprising two carver armchairs and twelve side chairs; rising from scrolled and carved rococo legs terminating in knurled ‘Spanish’ toes, the front rails of shaped form, carved with pleats issuing from central roses, and having overstuffed trapezoidal form seats, with tied ribband backs set within moulded uprights, and having serpentine, channelled and carved toprails.
Thomas Chippendale the Elder (1718-1779) Yorkshire born, a highly skilled cabinet maker and designer, published in 1754 his ‘Gentleman & Cabinet Maker’s Director’, a volume of instantly recognisable and idiosyncratic designs, that was reprinted time and again, serving as an essential manual for cabinet makers the length and breadth of England. Working from 60-62 St Martins Lane, London his output is regarded as the ne plus ultra of 18th century English cabinet making. His company furnished inter alia, Harewood House and Nostell Priory.
Plate XV in Chippendale ‘Director’ DIMENSIONS Single:
DIMENSIONS Carver:
REFERENCE:
H:
41 in:
103 cm
H:
41 in:
103 cm
7478
W:
26 in:
66 cm
W:
29in:
73 cm
D:
22.5 in:
57 cm
D:
22.5 in:
57 cm
Chairs after a design by Thomas Chippendale 1870
Circa 1880
GILLOWS OF LONDON & LANCASTER The founder of the Gillows dynasty, Robert (1704-1772) rose from humble beginnings as a provincial joiner, and evolved into a consummate businessman following a pursuit of excellence throughout his life.
Constructed in mahogany, the swept front legs having ‘hairy paw’ feet, with grotesque masks to the knees; the back legs of cabriole form, with pad feet, and carved ‘c’ scrolls atop; the straight arms with leather pads, having stylised lion mask terminals; the square form back and seats with buttoned leather upholstery, with close brass studs. Irish.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
41 in: 104.5 cm
W:
30 in:
76.5 cm
D:
30 in:
76.5 cm
7594
Founding his business in 1730 he expanded his furniture making activities to include the direct import of quality West Indian timbers especially the finest mahogany. His talents as both a cabinetmaker as well as innovative designer brought him early success, and, bringing his two sons, Richard & Robert, into the business, he expanded his Lancaster showroom, to include another in London’s Oxford Street. The clientele now included the Government, the aristocracy and the burgeoning middle classes. His furniture had gained its’ reputation for excellence of workmanship, and materials employed, and coupled with his insistence on being at the cutting edge of design kept the company to the fore throughout its’ one hundred and seventy year history from 1730 until its’ amalgamation with Messrs S.J. Waring in 1900. Throughout this period it was the largest manufactory of furniture in England. The fortuitous survival of the Gillows records in their Estimate Sketch Books show over 20,000 designs and are preserved in the City of Westminster Library. Furniture made by Gillows is to be found in Royal collections and museums throughout the world. The recent publication of Susan E. Stuart’s scholarly and invaluable study on the company, published by the Antique Collectors Club is a masterpiece of its’ type, and a wonderful exegesis of the company. We are proud to present the following examples of their craftsmanship.
Gillows of London & Lancaster
A Good Pair of Library Armchairs in the Early Georgian Irish Manner
Circa 1825
Of freestanding square form, constructed in Honduras mahogany: rising from moulded plinth bases: one cabinet being dressed with faux books, having a door, opened by a concealed catch; its pair of open form, with square section supports; the tooled leather tops are framed with quadrant running reel mouldings.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
31.5 in:
80 cm
W:
21 in:
53 cm
D:
16 in:
40.5 cm
7458
Courtesy of the City of Westminster Gillows Archives
Gillows of London & Lancaster
A Fine Pair of Library Cabinets in the Manner of Gillows of Lancaster
Circa
H:
36 in:
92 cm
W:
84.5 in:
214 cm
Constructed of finely figured rosewood, of four door breakfront form, exuberantly carved in the Graeco-Roman taste, rising from acanthus carved splay feet: the lockable glazed doors housing adjustable shelves, and framed within tapering, lobed and ring turned columns, capped by rectangular paterae; the top with a bold & confidently carved gadroon edging.
D:
17.5 in:
45 cm
A ‘dwarf bookcase’ of markedly similar form is shown in Volume 1, pp 384 and can be seen opposite.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE: 7628
Attributed to Gillows of Lancaster 1830
Courtesy of the City of Westminster Gillows Archives
Gillows of London & Lancaster
A Fine Bookcase Cabinet
A Very Fine Library Bookcase By Gillows of Lancaster
Circa 1830
Circa 1810
Gillows of London & Lancaster
A Fine Specimen Marble Regency Period Table in the Manner of Gillows Constructed in well patinated rosewood; rising from a quadripartite incurved base, with castor shod winged feet, dressed with sunflower paterae above; the central tapering, ring turned & lobed column supporting the platform, which has a running reel edge below a foliate carved edge, and is inlaid with one hundred and twenty specimens of Italian marble.
Courtesy of the City of Westminster Gillows Archives
Constructed in mahogany, of breakfront form, rising from a plinth base, the lower section having four blind doors with Grecian form cock beading, flanked by reeded and turned columns: the shelved upper section with two pairs of glazed doors with lancet form astragals flanked by reeded, turned and shaped columns. The cornice having a Greek key pattern with scrolled ends. Stamped ‘Kerby 545 New Oxford Street’. Gillows archives in the Westminster City Library show a bookcase of virtually identical form on page 1776 for 12 November 1805. Kerby may be presumed to be a dealer in furniture, and examples are recorded of their stamp both adjacent to, and obliterating the Gillows stamp. DIMENSIONS: H:
29.5 in:
REFERENCE: 75 cm
W:
21 in: 53.5 cm
D:
17 in: 43.5 cm
7515
DIMENSIONS:
Courtesy of the City of Westminster Gillows Archives
REFERENCE:
H:
84 in: 213.5 cm
W:
96 in:
244 cm
D:
19 in:
48.5 cm
7509
Circa
Constructed in thuyawood, with ebony stringing, and tulipwood cross banding; of kidney form, rising from a plinth base, having cupboard doors, each enclosing four interior drawers; three shaped drawers in the frieze, and with a tooled leather writing surface, and three shelves to the obverse. The Chubb fitted locks are stamped with the consecutive numbers 196333-7, dating to February 1849 and are marked 57 St Patent / 57 St. Paul’s Churchyard / London / Makers to Her Majesty. A variant of a popular Gillows design, recorded several times in the Gillows Archives, held in the City of Westminster Archives, London, and may be seen in Susan Stuart’s Gillows disquisition, volume 1, page 339. DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
29 in:
74 cm
W:
51 in:
129 cm
D:
25 in:
64 cm
7662
Courtesy of the City of Westminster Gillows Archives
Attributed to Gillows of London & Lancaster 1850
Gillows of London & Lancaster
A Very Fine Kneehole Library Table Firmly
An Exhibition Quality Centre Table of an Exceptionally Circa
Constructed in thuyawood, with satinwood and tulipwood used in the cross banding and inlays, and having wonderful finely cast ormolu mounts used as a counterpoint; the quadrapartite downswept legs terminating in recessed castors, with shells and draped leaves to the top surfaces, the toes dressed with acorn finials, and tasselled swags issuing from foliate bosses; the circular pedestal supporting four ormolu mounted fluted columns, dressed with female masks within draped garlands, surmounted by a substantial central ormolu dressed goblet with an acorn atop; the platform circular, with segmentally laid veneers, and a reserve inner running band of bellflowers intertwined about paterae, having an outer crossbanding in tulipwood, with a guard rim of ‘egg and dart’ form, in gilt bronze.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
30 in:
76 cm
DIA:
66 in:
168 cm
7506
Holland & Sons Originally founded in 1803 by Stephen Taprell and William Holland, a relation of the architect Henry Holland, the firm of Holland & Sons soon became one of the largest and most successful furniture making companies in the 19th Century. The firm worked extensively for the Royal Family, being granted the Royal Warrant early in the reign of Queen Victoria, hence taking a leading part in the decoration and furnishing of Osborne House, Sandringham, Balmoral, Windsor Castle and the apartments of the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House. Holland and Sons also worked extensively for the British Government, for whom they executed over three hundred separate commissions, including the Palace of Westminster, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and oversaw the State funeral of the Duke of Wellington. Among their private commissions the firm produced a celebrated suite of bedroom furniture for the late Sir Harold Wernher at Luton Hoo. Always at the forefront of fashion, Holland & Sons employed some of England’s leading designers and participated in many of the most important international Exhibitions of 1855, 1862, 1867, 1872 and 1878.
Our table draws on a table exhibited by Holland & Sons, designed by their Mr Rosenberg, at the London Exhibition of 1862, illustrated in the catalogue, entitled ‘Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture’, by J.B. Waring who notes ‘for fineness of execution colour and good taste, is far beyond that which is usual in such work’; tables very similar to this have passed through our hands over the years, and this is by far the largest.
Large Size, Firmly Attributed to Holland & Sons 1860
A Fine Library Desk in the Empire Circa
Constructed in particularly well patinated thuyawood veneers over an oak carcass, with bronze embellishments in the style of Percier and Fontaine; rising from a plinth base with a crossbanding of purpleheart, of pedestal nine drawer form, all drawers lockable and having Empire style escutcheons, housed within a columnar frame; the writing surface dressed with a burgundy coloured gilt tooled hide. Having a lock signed ‘Krieger’, and bearing a plaque with a conforming legend. French.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
31.5 in:
80 cm
W:
67 in:
170 cm
D:
37.5 in:
95 cm
7319
Krieger Antoine Krieger, born in Alsace on June 5, 1804, set up shop in the Faubourg Sainte-Antoine (the furnituremaking district of Paris) in 1826 and was married there in 1829. The marriage of his two daughters, one in 1849 to the cabinet-maker Claude-Julien Cosse, and the other in 1853 to the merchant Henry Racault, increased his prosperity. He then formed a partnership with his sons-in-law one of whom was to retire in 1858 and the other in 1870. At that date, the furniture and tapestry-making establishment, situated at 76 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, was extended to include no. 74 of the same street. A grandson by marriage became one of the partners in 1880. From 1870 to 1955, when it ceded from the register of commerce, the company remained a family affair, in the hands of the Damon family which descended from Antoine Krieger’s wife. Antoine Krieger, who retired from the company in 1860, and his son-inlaw Cosse, on their deaths, respectively in 1869 and 1883, left considerable property. Cosse had banked upon the transformation of Paris by Haussmann by constructing an apartment building situated on the boulevard Voltaire. The Maison Krieger won prizes at
the Exposition des produits de l’Industrie in 1849 and in the Universal Exhibitions of 1851 and 1855. At the 1851 exhibition an oak sideboard made for a client from the Ottoman Empire was noted in the press. A set of five drawings deposited at the Conseil de Prud’ hommes (Industrial tribunal) of the Seine department on July 9, 1850 corresponds in fact, for four of them, to a command made by Meguerditch Djézaërli, banker and tax-farmer of the Constantinople customs office. The latter fell into disgrace on October 23 1852 and his debts were subsequently not honoured. A crisis followed involving the manufacturers, the French workers on the building site of Djézaërli’s palace, the architect Agop Mélik, the French Embassy in Constantinople and the Ottoman government - in no hurry to honour the debts of this important man whose belongings had been sequestered. The Maison Krieger was one of the signatories of an urgent letter addressed, on February 5 1854, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, demanding the intervention of the French Ambassador with the Turkish government.
Manner By Krieger of Paris 1880
A Fine Pair of Side Cabinets Circa
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
44 in:
111 cm
W:
43.5 in:
110 cm
D:
17 in:
43 cm
7598
Rising from gilt bronze mounted toupie feet, of arc-en-arbalette form, each cabinet having three rectangular gilt bronze panels decorated with cast and chased intertwined foliate garlands above a shaped apron; over, the lockable doors having gilt bronze re-entrant ogee frames housing fields of foliate marquetry motifs, and enclosing shelved interiors, all within kingwood cross banding, and a diamond trellis framework, having square paterae tablets in the quadrants; over, guilloche gilt bronze bands fill the friezes, and atop fleur de pĂŞche marbles, housed within gilt bronze guard borders. French.
in the Louis XVIth Manner 1870
A Fine Console of the Louis XVIth Period in the Manner of Etienne Epaulard (1736-1803)
A Remarkable Side Cabinet By Henry Dasson, dated 1884
Circa 1770
Constructed in finely carved gilt wood; of demi lune form, having toupie feet supporting the tapering cannelure legs, which are joined by an entretoise shaped stretcher, centred with an urn in the Grecian manner, draped with garlands of roses; the apron carved with foliate decoration, centred with a ‘lover’s bow knot’, having Grecian paterae over the legs, and pendant swags of roses. Over, a platform of striated bleu de turquin marble. French. Etienne Epaulard had his workshop in the Rue de Charenton, Paris, and a console of almost identical design and form was sold some years ago in a Parisian auction room, stamped with the Palais Royal, Fontainebleau marque de fer, and the maker’s name.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE: 7434
Constructed in amboyna and mahogany, with boxwood and ebony stringing, dressed with fine ormolu mounts. Rising from tapering and bronze collared toupie feet the breakfront rectangular form having everted radiused corners, which issue stepped and fluted bronze mounted columns, with capitols of torsade form; the door has a lacquered fete galante framed within a pearl decorated bronze frame, enclosing a shelved interior; the frieze has a running rinceaux band, capped by a bronze frame housing the Rouge de Languedoc marble top. Stamped twice by the maker, Henry Dasson, and dated 1884.
Henry Dasson (1825-1896) established at 106 Rue Vielle du-Temple, was one of the most celebrated Parisien bronzier ebenistes. His work is renowned for the fine quality of the metalwork, utilising the designs of the ancien régime, and adapting them to conform with the needs of the times. He participated at the Expositions Universelles in 1878 and 1889 and examples of his work were purchased by the English Royal Family.
DIMENSIONS: H:
REFERENCE:
H:
34 in:
86.5 cm
47 in: 119.5 cm
W:
50 in:
127 cm
W:
63.5 in:
161 cm
D:
20 in:
51 cm
D:
18 in:
45 cm
7633
Circa 1840
Carved in Marmoro Rosso Antico, in two pieces, fitted with a bronze stud, and socket, to allow rotation and thus a 360 degree display, and, signed on the plinth by the maker, Benedetto Boschetti. Italian. The tazza rises from a square base, with a swept, spreading fluted and channelled socle, having an everted collar, with a running pearl ring over: the underside of the rotating upper bowl conformingly lobed and fluted, with two finely delineated heads of Medusa, with two wrythen handles dressed with foliates, having an ‘egg & dart’ moulded rim, and a dished interior. Benedetto Boschetti (fl 1820-1860) had his gallery at 74 Via dei Condotti, Rome, hard by the Piazza di Spagna, selling carved works, after the antique, as well as micromosaics and bronzes. This street had been extant since Roman times (the ‘condotti’ were the conduits taking water from the Tiber to the Baths of Agrippa). He exhibited two ‘mosaic tables’ at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Crystal Palace. The current tenant of 74 Via dei Condotti is Ferregamo, the fashion house. The Marmoro Rosso Antico was quarried since antique times, from Matapan, situated in the Peloponesse, south west Greece. The wine colour of the marble encouraged Greek & Roman sculptors to utilise it in statues of Dionysius/Bacchus, the god of wine.
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
20.5 in:
52 cm
DIA:
30.5 in:
82 cm
7664
Grand Tour
A Rare & Important Grand Tour Tazza By Benedetto Boschetti
Circa 1870
Housed within square gilt wood frames, the plaques, of tondo form, having Marmoro Nero grounds, with Malachite reserves housing the finely executed micromosaic views of vecchia Roma: The Pantheon, The Forum, The Spanish Steps, and St. Peter’s Square and the Vatican. Italian. DIMENSIONS Plaque:
DIMENSIONS Frame:
REFERENCE:
D:
H:
12.5 in:
32 cm
7595
W:
12.5 in:
32cm
6.5 in:
17 cm
Barberi was trained under Antonio Aguatti, professor of micromosaics at the Vatican Micromosaic workshops, and worked from 96 Piazza di Spagna, opposite Keat’s house, which is depicted in one plaque.
Grand Tour
A Fine Suite of Four Roman Micromosaic Plaques Possibly by Michaelangelo Barberi
Circa 1840
Carved in alabaster, the circular bases support lipped and waisted fluted socles, everted atop, carrying the ovoid bodies. Below, bold acanthus carving, and above, the central registers are finely carved with scenes from Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, relating to their appropriate red tinted rubrics: on one ‘Ulisse ricusa la bevanda offertagli da Circe’, and the other ‘Ulisse reconosciuto dalla sua balia Euriclea’. Over, the tapering bodies have running guilloche and acanthus bands, with the stop fluted necks bearing everted rims, with volute handles bearing Grecian maiden masks, with domed and stepped lids having pineapple finials. Homer, the Greek author of two of the truly great poems from antiquity, one of which, the Odyssey, charts the history of its’ eponymous hero, Odysseus (in Roman, Ulysses) during his
DIMENSIONS:
REFERENCE:
H:
50 in:
127 cm
D:
20 in:
51 cm
7384
wanderings for twenty years after the Trojan War, prior to his return to his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemachus, on his island home of Ithica. The primary rubric ‘Ulisse ricusa... & etc’ (Ulysses refuses the drink offered by Circe) shows Ulysses refusing the potion of the enchantress Circe, designed to have men fall under her spell, and the second ‘Ulisse reconoscuito... & etc’ (Ulysses recognises his fate is at the mercy of Euriclea) shows Euriclea, his childhood nurse, and maid to Penelope, recognising the long absent Ulysses, by means of a scar on his foot, thus endangering his plans. From Roman times, the Tuscan town of Florence was a centre for the supply, and due to its rich artistic tradition, the carving of Alabaster. It is quite possible that our vases were ordered during the ‘Grand Tour’ visit of a very wealthy tourist. Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) studied at the Florence Academy and noted for his skills in carving alabaster and marble. After studying in Paris in the early years of the nineteenth century, he met, and sculpted Napoleon, became a fervent Bonapartist, and became semi-official sculptor to the Bonaparte family.
Grand Tour
A Remarkable Pair of Italian Urns of Monumental Proportions in the Manner of Lorenzo Bartolini
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