A Rare Queen Anne Black Lacquer Pad Foot Occasional Table
Jun 29th
The present table is a rare example of English lacquer furniture made in the reign of Queen Anne. Whilst bureaux and mirrors rendered in lacquer at this date are not uncommon, small elegant tables are few. The beautifully drawn cabriole leg supporting a cavetto frieze is particularly pleasing and is more normally associated with prototypes in figured walnut.
Trade between Europe and Asia in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in a cultural exchange which sparked European enthusiasm for Far Eastern decorative arts, particularly painted furniture using lacquering technique. Lacquered furniture was first imported to Europe from China and Japan (hence the English term for the technique, “japanning”) and as contact with these countries increased, the “European rage for paint on furniture, through the ancient art of lacquer” was inspired. Japanned pieces were most often decorated with a black lacquer and decorated with raised and flat work often in the form of deities, pavilions, and fantastical creatures which were then gilded and detailed.
In England, “painted furniture gained popularity during the reign of William and Mary (1689-1792).” It reached its apogee in the early 18th century and demand was so high that the trade was unable to accommodate it. Books were published instructing the English in the art of japanning so that pieces could be made at home. In 1688 John Stalker and George Parker published their Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing, which provided detailed descriptions of lacquer recipes, processes, and designs. Tables, secretaries, chairs, and coffers were all made in this style, such as a tea table (circa 1710) similar to the present example in shape, which can be seen in figure 1. Furniture took contemporary British forms, but was decorated with distinctly Asian scenes of exotic animals and birds, flora, and landscapes. The English “worked hard to imitate the lustrous surface of Asian lacquerware, but the objects they created were distinctly European in character.”
Figure 1
Sheraton Work Table
Jun 22nd
The design for the present Work Table appears as Plate 43 in Thomas Sheraton’s The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer, and General Artist’s Encyclopaedia of 1804-8 (figure 1).
The Encyclopaedia was the third of the publications on the art of furniture making, including numerous plates of designs, through which Sheraton rose to prominence. The first of these publications was the distinguished and influential Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book, produced by subscription in fortnightly numbers between 1791 and 1793. The Cabinet Dictionary followed in 1803 and in that year Sheraton began work on the Encyclopaedia with the ambitious aim of producing 125 parts. Sheraton’s death in 1806 left the work partly incomplete.
It was through the success of these works that Sheraton established his reputation as being among the foremost late eighteenth-century furniture designers.
Beastly Base For This Extraordinary Table!
Jun 17th
We love zoomorphism and today we’re bringing you another piece that comprises several animalier elements, including one of our favorites- the serpent!
This interesting carved walnut and faux bronze circular center table, circa 1820, is an example of Italian design in the early 19th century, which had been greatly influenced by French taste after the Napoleonic wars carried the Empire style across the continent. This vogue was made fashionable by the aristocracy, but also by an emerging middle-class market which aided in the dissemination and support of workshops that continued throughout the century. Animal motifs, including the lion mask, were elements of style that became popular in this period and are found on the present table, along with traces of neoclassicism in the floral roundels and garlands of the frieze.
The exceptional table base is comprised of four zoomorphic legs headed with lion masks and terminating in hairy paw feet. The legs are joined together by an x-shaped stretcher in the form of four serpents. The serpent heads meet in the center to support a sphere, while their tails appear to pierce each leg from the inside and continue on the outside. Figure 1 and 2 are related circular tables from southern Italy, also made in the first quarter of the 19h century, with zoomorphic legs that are connected by serpents.
The serpent has been used in ornamentation since ancient times and was reintroduced in 18th and 19th century decorative arts with the revived interest in classical civilizations. Though they have an almost universal presence, symbolic interpretations of serpents range from temptation and evil to regeneration and immortality. Groups of serpents, often knotted together, are also be found in heraldic symbolism denoting wisdom
The Northumberland Mirrors
May 4th
The present mirrors are one of the most complex and dynamic expressions of the early rococo style in England. The mirrors employ the language of the rococo in the form of rocaille, floral and shell-like forms, and c-scrolls, yet retain a baroque sense of massivity and balance that eschews any hint of rococo frivolity. They were once part of the iconic collection of the Duke of Northumberland. According to Graham Child, they have a history of being present in three of the Ducal residences. “They were formerly at a house called Stanwick Park…The pair is also illustrated in the Duke of Northumberland’s archives as being in the collection at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, and were recently removed from Syon House, Middlesex.”
Sir Hugh Smithson of Yorkshire (who adopted the name Percy upon his marriage to Elizabeth Percy in 1740), inherited the title of Earl of Northumberland from his father-in-law. In 1766 he became first Duke of Northumberland, and set about restoring Alnwick Castle, making it his principle seat. The other properties belonging to the Duke included Northumberland House, his London residence, and Syon House and Stanwick Park, secondary estates. He was a great patron of the fine and decorative arts and “spent enormous sums in very costly decorations…and his wise husbandry rendered possible the alterations and decorations at Syon House, Alnwick, and Northumberland.”
Sir Hugh employed some of the greatest architects and cabinetmakers of the day to design the properties and their contents including Robert Adam, Matthias Lock, and Thomas Chippendale, who dedicated his Gentleman & Cabinet Maker’s Director (1754) to the Duke. The result at Northumberland House was an astounding estate, occupying nearly four and a half acres, where the Duke and Lady Northumberland became known for hosting opulent parties in lavish interiors. The ballroom could accommodate upwards of six hundred guests and “everything else was right for large-scale entertaining;” on one occasion there were “1,500 persons of distinction [at] a vast assembly at Northumberland House.’” Mirrors such as the present pair would have been perfectly in keeping with a home of such opulence and splendor.
The present mirrors are discernibly George II in style, bordering both the baroque and rococo tastes, and are similar in form to the type of work being produced by the likes of Benjamin Goodison and Matthias Lock. A detail of a drawing by Lock for his book, Six Sconces, which exhibits similar decorative elements to those found in the present pair of mirrors, particularly the lower central element in Lock’s cresting (pictured below). Aside from their overall symmetry, the selective use of areas of gilded sand is further proof of the mirrors being an early example of the rococo style in England. This feature was often seen on mirrors and picture frames from the Palladian oeuvre of William Kent in the 1730s and early 40s, but did not reemerge after this period.
Meet Robert Adam!
Apr 30th
Born July 3, 1728, Scottish architect, decorator and furniture designer Robert Adam was one of the most influential craftsmen of the 18th century. Adam’s career began in 1748 when he and his elder brother John took over the family construction business upon the death of their father. After several lucrative years, Adam left for Rome to embark on the fashionable Grand Tour. He traveled throughout Italy and France between 1754 and 1758 under the tutelage of French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi and, with these two gentlemen as mentors and companions, began to develop what would become a new style based on classical antiquity observed in these formative years abroad.
Robert Adam, attributed to George Willison, c. 1770-1775. National Portrait Gallery.
Adam’s first major public architectural commission was the Admiralty Screen in Whitehall, London, in 1759. Constructed as a central arched carriageway flanked by colonnades terminating in pedimented lodges, the screen was built to separate the street from the Admiralty complex and can be seen in figure 1 in a large-scale watercolor from our collection that is currently being researched. His outstanding talents soon gained him significant private commissions. Among the most notable are Syon House, executed for the 1st Duke of Northumberland; Kedleston Hall for Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Lord Scarsdale; and Harewood House for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood.
Admiralty Screen designed by Robert Adam, 1759. Carlton Hobbs LLC.
Robert Adam is responsible for reinventing the 18th century neoclassical ideal. He maintained a predilection for Etruscan ornamentation, inspiring pieces such as this breakfront cabinet, and his decorative schemes combined delicate and detailed designs, and attention to color, light and space. In addition to interior and exterior architecture, Adam also designed wall furniture and decorative objects, plasterwork, metalwork, carpets, and chimneypieces. Figure 2 shows examples of a number of these types of designs by Adam for Derby House in Grosvenor Square. Adam thoughtfully considered his projects, and each object and piece of furniture was crafted to blend harmoniously into the overall design of a room.
Five-light Silvered Bronze and Wedgwood Porcelain Mounted Chandelier
Apr 27th
English. Circa 1875.
The present chandelier is a rare example of a light mounted with high quality marked Wedgwood in the uncommon ground color of rosso antico. Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) is perhaps the most distinguished English potter, whose work spread throughout Europe and to the United States and Canada. Wedgwood was the youngest son in a family of potters of Burslem, Staffordshire. By 1749 he completed his apprenticeship with the family pottery works and went on to form partnerships with John Harrison and Thomas Alders at Cliff Bank, Stoke, between 1752 to 1754, and with Thomas Whieldon, another notable Staffordshire potter, from 1754-1759. In 1759, however, Wedgwood terminated this partnership in order to found his own pottery works.
Wedgwood built a large library of books on classical design of sculptures, pictures, and furniture representative of Grand Tour travels in Italy, and especially Rome. He based his pottery on such masterpieces, and when he “made a design taken from the Farnese Hercules or the Venus de Medici he knew that his customers appreciated and were familiar with the original.”
As another consequence of the newborn interest in classical antiquity, buildings subscribed to the Palladian ideal, and interiors were equally fitted. The great architect Robert Adam was responsible for many of these homes and for championing and classical ideal. Adam spent an extended Tour in Italy and, upon establishing his practice in England in 1758, began working in not only the classical Roman idiom, but that of ancient Greece.
Wedgwood was greatly influenced by Adam and the Etruscan style, going so far as to name his factory “Erturia.” He began interpreting those designs into pottery, at first directly using red figures in relief on black basalt background to simulate Etruscan vases, and developed a number of other stoneware bodies including jasper, black basalt, and rosso antico. Bodies of rosso antico (antique red) could be further enhanced by the addition of black bas-relief decoration in the neoclassical style, as seen in the present chandelier.
His schemes were modeled to fall in line with the Adam style. “Architects and others used the jasper in every variety, both for internal and external purposes…[and] Wedgwood adapted his productions to the arts of the jeweler and the architect.” The wares, which were considered to be on par with porcelain for a time, ranged from dinner, tea and coffee ware to decorative objects such as vases and large decorative plaques, which could be incorporated into furniture and architectural elements.
The present chandelier is unusual in that the mounted vases are of rosso antico, rather than the more traditional blue and white jasper. An object of this type would most likely have been constructed specifically to fall in line with a particular Etruscan-style interior.
Wedgwood Stamp
Late Louis XV Semanier by Jean Francois Hache
Apr 21st
Grenoble. dated 1777.
Of cherry wood inlaid with burr maple, ebony and sycamore. The molded cornice above a single door is inlaid with a system of geometric shapes. The door opens to reveal a fully fitted interior with seven drawers, each centered by a plain brass knob. The sides similarly inlaid and the whole raised on four short cabriole legs.
Jean François Hache represents the fourth generation in a family of famed cabinetmakers from Grenoble, France, who worked throughout the end of the 17th century and the entirety of the 18th century. The dynasty began with Noël Hache (1630-1675), the son of a master baker who chose not to enter the family business, but rather studied veneering in the workshop of a Calais master. This northern region of France was directly influenced by the marquetry of Belgium and The Netherlands. Eventually, Noël set up his own workshop in Toulouse and, upon his death, it was taken over by his son Thomas. Thomas Hache then moved the atêlier to Grenoble. His only son, Pierre, worked with him as did his grandson, Jean-François.
Jean-François Hache (1730-1796) is probably the most famous of the Hache craftsmen. In 1756 he spent some time in Paris where he was very much influenced by the Louis XV style and particularly by the work of Jean-François Oeben. He gradually took the baton at the family workshop and around 1760 began to incorporate more simplified forms and intricate marquetry into his designs.
A strong keynote of Hache’s work is his use of bold and unusual geometric inlaid forms. The distinctive nature of these forms is accentuated by the fact that he placed them within late Louis XV rococo furniture prototypes. The interesting and highly successful tension this created makes Hache’s work unique.
The present semanier was executed by Jean-Francois Hache in 1777 and bears a printed label on which the date, janvier 1777, has been filled in by hand. The label names the people of import who commissioned Hache and advertises the workshop’s impressive range of production. According to René Fonvieille, biographer of the Hache dynasty, the labels used by the workshop can be categorized into fourteen types, the present label belonging to type IX.1
Printed label bearing the people of import who commissioned Hache.
A chifonnier by Hache circa 1770-1780, now in the Collection Musée Dauphinois (figure 1) is closely related in form and design. The use of four cabriole legs which terminate in a pastille foot, appears on both this piece and the present semanier and is a signature of Hache’s work. The sides of the chifonnier are also decorated with a simplified geometric inlaid design much like the door and sides of the present semanier.
George II Carved Mahogany Grotto Chairs
Apr 15th
Shell Grotto Chairs. Englsh. Circa 1740.
From the 16th century onward, grottoes were constructed as fanciful retreats from reality. They appeared throughout Europe, from the Buontalenti Grotto at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, to the Grotto of Thetis at Versailles (torn down in 1684), to the Kuskovo Grotto near Moscow. These fantasy structures were “adorned with interesting rock formations, fountains, seashells, and often, matching furniture.”1 The fashion continued through the Rococo period, where scrolling C- and S-curve designs based on the shell were developed, and into the 19th century.
Inspiration for grotto furniture derived partially from mythology, particularly those myths with maritime subjects such as Venus, Triton, and Thetis. The latter featured in Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Tragédie en Musique Alceste (1674) in which the eponymous character is kidnapped. In the opera, Thetis, a sea goddess or Nereid, aids in the abduction of Alceste, Queen of Thessaly; in more general mythology Thetis was married to the mortal Peleus, after being courted by Zeus and Poseidon, and is the mother of Achilles. In a drawing for the set design of a production of Alceste c. 1674-8), Thetis is depicted riding in a shell-form chariot drawn by dolphins (figure 1).
Design for the chariot of Thetis by Jean Berain and workshop, circa 1674-8.
Like the fictional chariot, the back and seats of the present chairs are strongly carved in the form of scallop shells. They rest on legs carved in the form of entwined pairs of dolphins, a form inspired by the English Palladian movement of the first half of the 18th century, and in particular by the furniture designs of William Kent. The dolphins are connected by a stretcher in the shape of a sea serpent. The legs complete the appearance of real-life shell chariots intended to carry the sitter away, enhancing the grotto fantasy.
The form of the chair legs, particularly the flat back leg, is derived from Italian sgabelli, or stool chairs, which were popular in Renaissance and baroque Italy. The sgabello is characterized by a thin, flat backrest and usually an octagonal seat, above legs comprised of two flat and ornamented boards supported by a stretcher. They were typically used as hall chairs and, while not intended to be comfortable, they were “the medium through which the baroque carver gave vent to his most vehement fancies and decorative orgies…excessively ornamented with all the then-prevailing motifs.”2 A 16th century sgabello (figure 2) formerly in the collection of Carl W. Hamilton, early 20th century New York entrepreneur and collector, “has a lyre-shaped front support ending in dolphins, a motif commonly found in decorations”3 from that era and continuing into the Kentian phase of the present chairs.
Italian sgabello, middle of the 16th century, formerly in the collection of Carl W. Hamilton. Odom, William Macdougal. A History of Italian Furniture. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1918
Interestingly, four other chairs and an extraordinary table from this group were sold by Christie’s London, 11 April 1985 (figure 3). The presence of the matching table seems to confirm that these chairs were used within a grotto setting and were not conceived as simple hall chairs.
Four other chairs and a table from this group, sold by Christie's London, 11 April 1985, Lot 58-60.
Massive Mirrors on the Wall
Feb 5th
The design on which these remarkable mirrors are based was officially registered by the cabinet maker George Sims of 50-152 Aldersgate Street, London, in March 1878 and survives in the National Archives at Kew. Standing at just over 7 feet tall, the mirrors follow the design very closely, although they are given a stricter architectural quality by the decision to leave out the ornamental crest and swag on the drawing.
Although clearly closely inspired by Robert Adam’s work, Sims has lent these pieces an inventive edge by subtly departing from the conventions of Adam’s oeuvre. For instance, the hemispherical fans are curiously but successfully inverted and placed at the base of the mirror. Other motifs within the array of finely detailed neoclassical decoration are on close scrutiny more stylised and angular versions of their eighteenth-century counterparts.
Furthermore, Sims’ handling of the geometry and proportions of the mirror is exemplary and is redolent of the more radical designers of the early years of the nineteenth century, all the more remarkable given the date of conception of the present pieces. The exceptional quality and scale of the mirrors suggests that they were clearly a special commission of the highest order.
The diamond mark [patent registration label] on the present pair of mirrors, pictured to the right, gives the date 25 March, 1878 Top. You can find a detailed explanation of these diamond marks here: The Registered Diamond Mark.
Henry Moore’s Only Table
Jan 13th
The present table was designed circa 1963 by English sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986). Made entirely of travertine, “one of his favourite stones,” and constructed in two parts, the table was intended for the living room of the Moore family home at 198 Via Mateo Civitali in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, where the family vacationed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The home was unfurnished and Moore, being “instrumental in the design of the house,” decided to create the table to be executed by Henraux Marble works located in Querceta, approximately one mile away from Forte dei Marmi. Quarried near Rome, the travertine was brought to Querceta for Moore, who began a close working relationship with Messrs Henraux in 1956, when they supplied him with the travertine used in a large sculpture commission from UNESCO, Paris. Moore had purchased the Forte dei Marmi home so that he could work on the UNESCO project and used the travertine stone for part of the interior of the house as well as the table.
Travertine is a porous, yet durable, sedimentary rock used primarily in building. Some of the most famous edifices constructed of travertine include the Colosseum in Rome, Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris, and Kazansky Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Moore’s thoughts on the stone are summarized in his description of the UNESCO Paris project: “It’s a beautiful stone. I’d always wanted to do a large piece in it…In ten or twenty years’ time, with the washing of the Paris rain, it will be fine. Half of Rome is built of travertine.”
The entire design and construction process of the present table was carried out during “one long summer holiday period.” It remained in the family’s Italian vacation home until Henry Moore’s death, and was eventually inherited by his daughter, Mary Moore Danowski. Apart from two wooden carved benches made in the early 1920s, the present table is the only piece of furniture Moore’s daughter recalls him ever creating.