A George II giltwood wall bracket circa 1740

in the form of a broad boldly curving scroll with acanthus carving and central beading, carved at the sides with floral paterae and scrolling leaves on a  punched ground, surmounted by a foliate carved and fluted pediment; regilded

The present bracket is conceived in the Palladian style, promoted by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) and his protégé William Kent (1685-1748). Its design may have been further inspired by the engravings of Giovani Battista Piranesi (1720-78), the architect and furniture designer who published a series of etchings of Roman buildings Le antichita romane, which were first published in 1756. Three engravings which illustrate brackets sharing decorative elements found on the offered lot are reproduced in J. Wilton Ely, Giovani Piranesi, The Complete Etchings, 1994, 2 vols. Vol. II, pls. 629, 663 and 778.