A pair of George III grained and parcel-gilt torchères circa 1800

Probably commissioned by George John Montagu, 6^th Earl of Sandwich (1773-1818) for Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

With Jeremy Ltd., London, 1962

David Style, Esq., Wateringbury Place, Maidstone, Kent, Christie’s House Sale, 1-2 June 1978, lot 526

With Partridge Fine Arts, London

Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, Property from a Private Collection, January 23, 1993, lot 272

This pair of important torcheres and the pair in the following lot were almost certainly commissioned by George John Montague, Earl of Sandwich, probably Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.  

Their form incorporates a number of significant elements in their design which are based on antique forms which were adapted in the third quarter of the18th century by architects such as the Adam brothers and James Athenian Stuart. The hollow-sided pedestals, originally japanned to simulate porphyry, are ultimately derived from a well known type of Roman altar (see: Harris, op. cit., fig. 77), and are of a form used frequently by Robert Adam, an example being the blue-and-ivory japanned pedestals supplied to Sir Watkin William-Wynn’s Eating Room at 20 St James’s Square c. 1774 (see: Harris, op. cit., fig. 139). The present set of four reflect a simpler, less embellished form than Adam’s, with elegant crossed branches of berried laurel leaves, resting on paw feet. The tripods they support are derived from examples of Roman folding tripods, a number of which were excavated from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the last decades of the 18^th century. A 1st century example of this form made of silver from the Hildesheim Treasure is illustrated by Hayward, op. cit. The goats’ heads and cloven hoofed feet ornaments to the tripod are associated with the worship of the god Bacchus, his symbolic presence being considered suitable ornament for the dining room. They support stands for candelabra in the form of tazzas which in classical times would have held burning charcoal or incense, continuing the Bacchic theme.       

The various forms found on these torcheres were also used by other designers in the early 19^th century including Thomas Hope who illustrates in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, plate 9, ‘two cassolettes’ their form derived from a Roman folding table, and plate 17, no. 5, a ‘Bronze tripod, with hinges and sliders, made to take to pieces and to fold up, after the manner of ancient tripods’.   

No records have as yet been found indicating a possible maker for these torcheres, although it is presumed that they were made for Hinchingbrooke. Christopher Hussey’s articles on the house (Country Life, op. cit.), show a 17^th century and earlier house with no obvious interiors dating from the early 19^th century. Illustrations of the Drawing Room and Library show respectively a pair of folio cabinets with lion mask ornament and a large circular table with a ‘tripod altar’ frame on paw feet of the same period as the preset pieces. Furthermore, Margaret Jourdain (op. cit.) illustrates three pieces from the collection of the Earl of Sandwhich including a Carlton House writing table, a center table, and a writing table. These are all neatly made in rosewood in the Regency style with discrete ormolu mounts and ornamented with Egyptian heads. In some respect, these pieces reflect the known work of William Marsh and Tatham and Bailey.

See:

Country Life, 13 April 1929, ’Hinchingbrooke – II’, Christopher Hussey, p. 517, fig.6

Country Life, May 23, 1947, ‘Torcheres and Candelabra – Designs by Robert Adam’, Ralph Edwards, pp. 966-967

Eileen Harris, The Furniture of Robert Adam, 1963

Margaret Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1830, 1965, figs. 31,168, 176

Helena Hayward, editor, World Furniture, 1965, p. 17, fig. 32