An important pair of George III painted and parcel-gilt drawing room chairs, retaining their original painted-cotton seat covers and upholstery Circa 1795

the first chair with cresting rail centered by a carved archery trophy with a crossed quiver and flaming torch centered by an arrow and a bow within an oval lozenge flanked by flaming torches and foliate acanthus lozenges within a beaded tablet and flanked by flower heads surmounted by gadrooned finials raised on stop-fluted columnar stiles with foliate capitals, the rectangular upholstered backrest à chassis and painted with a dancing female figure playing a tambourine representing Erato within a beaded oval lozenge flanked by winged caryatids holding a foliate canopy and floral swags amid foliate and floral grotesques all within a beaded border and painted with swirling acanthus to the square edge, the S-curved downswept armrests carved with trailing berried foliage and beading terminating in block-form handholds applied with flower-heads on tapered fluted acanthus carved baluster supports, the rounded drop-in seat with conforming decoration to the backrest, the central oval medallion painted with winged putti seated on clouds and painted with swirling acanthus to the square edge, above a conforming seat rail with beaded moldings raised on circular turned fluted tapering legs carved with beading and stiff leaves headed by flower-heads and terminating in turned feet, stamped V to the frame and backrest; the second chair with cresting rail centered by a carved fine arts trophy of an artist's palette and brushes; the backrest painted with a female figure wearing a helmet and holding a chalice and a cross representing Faith, stamped VI to the frame and backrest, the back marked 26.711 in red ink. Retaining the original gilt-metal and steel screw attachments.

George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2^nd Marquess of Stafford, created Duke of Sutherland 1833 (1758-1833)

Thence probably by descent to his son, George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2^nd Duke of Sutherland (1786-1861)

Possibly W. S. Hobson, Leicester

James Orrock, London, circa 1901

With French & Company, New York

Extremely fine chairs in very distressed condition with tattered remnants of their original painted fabric upholstery and in need of extensive sympathetic restoration; much of the original painted and parcel gilt decoration to backrests is still stable, most painted and parcel-gilt decoration to seats rails and legs with extensive losses and flaking, all chairs with later brass brackets to undersides of frames; remarkable survival of superior examples of upholstery techniques of the late 18th century; all chair frames, backrests and drop-in seat frames with Roman numerals to undersides Chair V Distressed condition, tattered remnants of original upholstery, lacking left finial to backrest, tops of armrests now lacking at juncture of stiles, molding to top of left armrest now lacking, aprons and front legs loose, back right leg angled slightly inward. Chair VI Distressed condition, tattered remnants of original upholstery, finials loose, front legs and apron loose, back right leg angled slightly inward
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present suite, which now comprises eight arm chairs, two sofas and a pair of pier tables, is first recorded as part of a larger suite which, in 1824, was in the 'Principal Drawing Room' at West Hill House, Wandsworth, Surrey.  In an 'Inventory of the Elegant Furniture, Farming Stock, and Garden Implements & Tools etc., The Property of the Most Noble Marquess of Stafford at his Mansion West Hill, Wandsworth', the room was furnished with:

 

'An Elegant Square 7ft Sofa in massive

carved white and gold frames thick hair Squab

back and ends stuffd in white India

Dimity beautifully painted with medallions

of various devices and handsome flower

borders on carved & gilt legs castors carved

and gilt legs and Castors,

carved and gilt knull

mouldings raffle leaves & other ornaments

& eight Chintz Cotton Covers

 

A Ditto ensuite

 

An elegant 4ft 9 Ditto ensuite

 

A Do ............... ...     ensuite

 

Twelve elegant Square back & seat Elbow

Chairs to correspond in carved white & gold

Frames ensuite & eight Chintz Cotton Cases

On Castors

 

Eight Ditto to correspond with round seats

and eight Chintz Cotton Cases'

 

A Handsome 5 ft shaped front Satinwood

banded  & painted pier Table on a support

white and gold carved frame fluted legs & imitation Marble plinth & tablet in ctre

 

A Ditto ensuite'

 

 

The mansion on the West Hill estate was originally designed by the local architect Jesse Gibson (c.1748-1828) of Hackney in Middlesex for John Anthony Rucker, a merchant, originally from Hamburg, who had purchased the estate in 1789.  The estate, which bordered both Putney and Wandsworth, was expanded in 1802 by D. H. Rucker, possibly his son, and was subsequently purchased from him in April of 1825 by George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2^nd Marquess of Stafford, later 1^st Duke of Sutherland, in 1825.  It is, however, clear from existing household accounts that it had actually been leased unfurnished by the Marquess from 1805, the 1824 inventory of the 'Elegant Furniture' confirming that these were at the time of his occupancy his own property.

 

Apart from the two sofas, eight chairs and two pier tables mentioned above, the inventory for the 'Principal Drawing Room' also included 'Eighteen Japanned white, and framed green Elbow Chairs with cane seats and gilt cane tablets in backs and cushions in white dimity cases ensuite (not , painted), A pair Square foot Ottomans ..., A Handsome.. Mahogany oblong Loo Table,....A Mahogany Trou Madame Table,....An Elegant....Rosewood Octagon Table...., An Elegant Rosewood Sofa Table...., A Handsome Mahogany occasional Table...A Pair of octagon top mahogany pillar & Claw Work Tables...., A Pair of handsome...carved white and gold thermed pedestals square Plinths & tablets in center', and 'a Noble Brilliant Plate Pier Glass from the cornice to floor in an elegant carved & gilt frame bordered with enameled white & gold plate Glass carved white and gold tablets', and 'A Ditto'.

 

 

Unfortunately no contemporary illustrations or descriptions appear to remain either of the exterior or interior and, although the house still exists, it is now 'A very large, grand Italianate affair, by W. P. Griffith, 1864, built around a c.18 core' (Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, London 2: South, 1983, London, p. 683), and none of the earlier interiors have survived.

 

It is not clear as to why the house became one of the many residences of George Granville, 2^nd Marquess of Stafford (1758-1833), who was the eldest son of the 1^st Marquess by his second wife, Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of the 1^st Duke of Bridgewater.  He entered the House of Commons for the second time in 1787 as member for Stafford until 1798 when he was called up to the House of Lords as Baron Gower of Stittenham.  In 1790 he became Ambassador to France until the embassy was closed in 1792.  He was appointed to the office of the joint post-master general in 1799, a position he held until 1810 after 1807 he took little active part in politics.  In 1785 he married Elizabeth Sutherland, countess of Sutherland in her own right, who owned vast estates of her own in Scotland.  He also inherited the Bridgewater canal and estates, including Cleveland House, St. James's, as well as an impressive art collection from his maternal uncle, the last Duke of Bridgewater,in 1803. In the same year, on the death of his father, he inherited the Stittenham estate in Yorkshire, and the extensive estates at Trentham, Staffordshire, Wolverhampton, and Littleshall in Shropshire.  In London he inherited Gower House, Whitehall which was sold to Robert Smith, 1^st Baron Carrington in 1806-7.

The estate at West Hill was therefore a very minor possession of the Marquess's, although the present suite of furniture, and other pieces itemized in the inventory, indicate that the furnishings were both sophisticated and of high quality. However, the design of the suite of seat furniture and the pier tables in particular indicates a date of the 1790s rather than the latter part of the first decade of the 19^th century.  It is plausible that they were removed from one ofhis many estates or from Gower House or Cleveland House.

Of the estates, Trentham is probably the most unlikely, although Henry Holland, together with Capability Brown, was responsible for much of the work which began in 1775 and continuing for the next three years, the date being too early for the present suite.  As with many of the Sutherland properties, 18^th century Trentham virtually disappeared during Barry's rebuilding of the house in the 1830s, and there are no records of either Holland's work or subsequent decoration and furnishing.  Holland was, of course, the principal architect employed to remodel Carlton House for the Prince of Wales, in the 1780s, and he employed both here and for other commissions a number of French cabinetmakers and chair makers, such as the émigré François Hervé.  A set of six 'cabriole stools' made in 1791 'to the order of Holland and Daguire... to match a canopy bedstead' for Lady Spencer at Althorp, have certain characteristics with the present chairs. These include the upholstered tablet backs within upright columns, and the circular seats with their upright straight-edged upholstery.  However, unlike English chair-makers, Hervé placed the crest rail between the uprights, not on top as seen on the present chairs (See: Apollo, October 1968, Peter Thornton and John Hardy, 'The Spencer Furniture at Althorp', pp. 266-277, fig.12).

 

Of the London houses, Gower House might be considered as a possibility as its contents were presumably removed at the time of its sale to Robert Smith, 1^st Baron Carrington c. 1806-7. Originally built for the 2nd Earl Gower in 1766-74, the interiors of the Great Room were typical of the work of William Chambers, displaying the influences of Palladianism and French and English Neo-classicism.  Although the present chairs are considerably later in date, there a number of photographs taken of these earlier interiors before demolition of the house in 1888.  These clearly show a number of decorative details of the ceilings and plaster-work and, in particular, a series of painted panels by Cipriani which would have formed a suitable background for them.      

 

The final possible residence, Cleveland House, was originally purchased by the 4^th Earl of Bridgewater in the in 1700, and was completely rebuilt by the 3^rd Duke of Bridgewater.  The 'elegant neoclassical architect' James Lewis (c. 1751-1820) (See: Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840), 1978, pp. 517-519), was employed by the Duke to remodel the south front and the interior, 1795-7, in this style although, again, all these interiors were destroyed when the house was demolished in 1840-1, being replaced by the current Bridgewater House. The Marquess certainly made a number of improvements to Cleveland House, although these too are undocumented, other than the additions to its unrivalled collection of pictures.  However, of all the residences, the present suite could certainly have had its origins at Cleveland House, if not West Hill.

The estate was sold by the 2^nd Duke of Sutherland around 1842 to a J. A. Berenson, the price of £45,000 including furniture and fixtures but it is unclear if the present chairs and pier tables remained in the house at this time.  Records which accompanied the chairs when they entered the Corcoran Gallery indicate that during the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century they were in the collections of the Hon. Michael Sandys, W. S. Hobson, and that of James Orrock.  Michael Sandys, 5^th Baron Sandys of Ombersley, Co. Worcester is not known to have either a connection with the Stafford family, or as a collector, although Hobson, who was a wealthy businessman from Leicester, is known as a collector.  He was also a friend of James Orrock, who was from Edinburgh, and had a fascinating career, firstly as a dentist in Nottingham, then as an artist, collector and dealer in London after 1866.  He was a passionate supporter of 'the creation of a gallery of British art through numerous articles, lectures and meetings' constantly deploring 'the refusal of the National Gallery to buy British art' (Edward Morris, 'James Orrock, dentist, patron, collector, dealer, curator, connoisseur, forger, propagandist', Visual Culture in Britain Journal, vol. 6, issue 2, Winter 2005).  'He arranged his own late-eighteenth-century house at 48 Bedford Square as a museum to display his own collection in the way that he hoped that the new gallery of British art behind the National Gallery would be arranged.  There his late-eighteenth-century paintings and watercolors were hung above fine furniture of the same period' (Morris, op. cit.).  A photograph, c. 1903, illustrated by Lucy Wood, The Lady Lever Art Gallery Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1993, p. 33, fig.23, View from the Front Drawing Room to the Back Drawing Room at 48 Bedford Square, illustrates one of the present chairs and one of the pier tables.  Other photographs illustrated in James Orrock, R. I., Byron Webber, 1903, show the other pier table and a sofa, and another chair together with another pier table with shelves, the central tablet with a martial trophy; all these photographs illustrate the tables supported on conforming marbleized plinths. Orrock was known amongst his friends and associates, who included J.H. Duveen and William Lever, later Viscount Leverhulme, as 'The Oracle', increased his wealth by both dealing and collecting, selling the latter both paintings and satinwood furniture.  The date at which the present group of pier tables and seat furniture left his collection is unclear, as is their subsequent history until they entered the collection of the Corcoran Gallery in 1926, although it is believed that they were at some point with the New York firm of French and Company.

 

The pair of pier tables was exhibited in the Blue Room of the White House after its re-decoration in April, 1972, remaining there until July 2002.