A pair of mahogany tripod tables parts 18th century

the tilting piecrust tops on stop-fluted column supports with acanthus carved knops and beaded and leaf-carved legs with claw-and-ball feet

Illustrated, Gordon Nares, 'Hagley Hall, Worcestershire - II', Country Life, 26 September 1947, p. 608, fig. 2.

Illustrated, John Cornforth, 'Hagley Hall, Worcestershire - I', Country Life, 27 April 1989, p.137, fig. 3.

 

Overall in a clean condition. The bases are 18th century and display fine carving and good quality timber. The blocks and bearers beneath the top are replacements. One top would appear to have more age that the other although both bear signs that they may have been altered or reshaped due to the evidence of previous holes for the bearers, particularly those that are close to the edge of the top. There is evidence of both catches being repositioned. The top displaying greater possible age has plugged holes to the upper surface where the screws have protruded. For further information on this Lot, please contact the English Furniture Department on 00 44 (0) 207 293-5470.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The following property, (lots 92-103) formed part of the furnishings of Hagley Hall, Worcestershire, the Palladian Villa built for Sir George Lyttelton, 5th Bt., later 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley (d. 1773) between 1754 and 1760.  Hagley was the ancestral home of the Lyttelton family who had lived there since the 1560s, Horace Walpole describing the original house as 'immeasurably old and bad'. As Christopher Hussey remarks in English Country Houses, Early Georgian 1715-160, London 1955, the new house erected by Lyttelton in the mid 1750's displayed 'the eclecticism displayed by a leading intellectual in the architecture of Hagley generally, and the empirical designing of the house by a group of clever amateurs, illustrates the conflicts of thought underlying the rococo manner, of which the interior (and the simplified exterior) are notable examples, and reflect closely the informed taste of the decade 1750-1760'. Lyttelton was indeed considered to be an intellectual by his peers who included Horace Walpole, John Chute of the Vine in Hampshire, Thomas Prowse M.P., and the architect Sanderson Miller.  Author of Observations on the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Lyttelton served as secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and was also a politician, being appointed to the office of Cofferer in 1754, a position which provided him with an income of some £2,200 per year, Lyttelton remarking that 'if I hold it for 3 or 4 years will build my new house without my being obliged to borrow'. He was, in fact, appointed to the Exchequer, being raised to the peerage in 1756, 'applying himself to literature and landscape till his death in 1773' (Hussey, op. cit.).

Lord Lyttelton was enthusiastic regarding the building of Hagley though it appears through his correspondence with his architect Sanderson Miller (1716-1718) that he was indecisive on the direction the project should take. Lady Lyttelton was however of an altogether different nature prompting Lord North to write in 1751: 'If an Italian House is built at Hagley, it is by my Lady.'  The planning certainly caused Lord Lyttelton a great deal of distress, writing to Miller on 25 August 1753, 'It is an unalterable Decree of the Fates that Grandeur and Comfortableness must not dwell together. My wife murmurs and says she shall be blown away and starv'd to Death; but she as well as the rest of the world must submit to the laws of the Goddess Taste who is now the Great Diana of England.'

The result was however a triumph and the interiors were splendidly furnished with some exemplary mid-eighteenth century furniture. Unfortunately many of the records of the house were destroyed in the devastating fire of 1925 and so it has not been possible to directly ascribe the furniture to a specific maker with any certainty. There was however a grand commission for the interiors, as there are records of Lord Lyttelton spending nearly £9,000 on the furnishings of the house, that had already cost him a substantial £25,832, according to the accounts retained at Hoare's Bank. Whilst much of the furniture had in the past been attributed to the workshop of Thomas Chippendale by Oliver Brackett lack of documentary evidence and no direct correlation with The Director, make this attribution unlikely.