An important and monumental George II stripped pine fireplace surround circa 1735

John Fuller, Rosehill, Brightling, Sussex

Hambros Bank, Bishopsgate, London

T. Crowther & Son Ltd., Fulham

Acquired from the above, 1991

Overall good condition; of very high quality and of excellent proportions; originally painted; paint stripped and now with lightly waxed surface; age cracks throughout; infilled nail holes throughout; losses and replacements; basket with loss to leaf tips; loss to left C-scroll of foliate base beneath basket and with age cracks; basket with repaired breaks and with separation to front of basket at lines of construction; top of broken pediment possibly with some replacements; chips and losses to floral crown of Flora mask above overmantel; small loss and replacement to end of left floral swag flanking the Flora mask; separation to left side of face of front right term figure; small loss to outer right volute at the top; top left and right molded sections flanking broken pediment possibly replaced; front left scroll support flanking fireplace opening with losses to fruit and foliate carving (see photo); front right scroll support flanking fireplace opening with losses to foliate carving; shims to age cracks especially to scroll supports flanking fireplace opening; small stains to left side of Apollo mask above fireplace opening (see photo); please note that the photograph of the fireplace has been cropped at the bottom where there is approximately 6 inches (included in the overall height as stated in the catalogue) of a wooden base board which has remnants of black adhesive where a baseboard plinth would be attached.
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.

This beautifully carved chimney-piece is one of the finest examples of Palladian chimneypieces similar to works by Michael Rysbrack at Houghton Hall and Woburn Abbey, and Robert Doe at Temple Newsam House, illustrated in Alison Kelly, The Book of English Fireplaces, London, 1968, pp. 50-51, figs. 52, 53.  The design of the chimneypiece itself is very similar to those by Inigo Jones and William Kent published in Isaac Ware's Designs of Inigo Jones and others, 1731.  The central tablet centered by the mask of Apollo before rays of light refers to a design by Kent, (op. cit., pl. 40).  The use of the terminal figures on the overmantel which flank the central tablet is seen in a design by Inigo Jones designed for Oatlands Palace in 1636 and illustrated in Ware, op. cit., pl. 3., the terminal figures also relate to a design by Jones for the Queens House, Greenwich, illustrated in Harris and Higgott, Inigo Jones Complete Architectural Drawings, New York, 1989, p. 228, fig. 72. (see Sotheby's, New York, October 21, 1999, lot 450, for a marble fireplace surround with similar terminal figures originally from Ranton Abbey, Staffordshire.

Further designs for two fireplace surrounds with very similar term figures with floral and fruit swags are illustrated in The British Architect, plate LIV.  A carved pine fireplace surround from Aston Lodge, Aston-on-Trent, which was with M. Harris & Sons Ltd., London, is very similar to these designs, as well as to the present lot with it's use of squared flower heads within the frieze. (illustrated in M. Harris and Sons, A Catalogue and Index of Old Furniture and Works of Decorative Art from the late sixteenth century to early nineteenth century, part II, p. 181, num. F25087.)

The chimney-piece was commissioned by John Fuller of Brightling Park, Sussex, in the 1730s.  The Fullers were a family of landed gentry whose fortune came from the manufacture and selling of guns as well as operating an iron foundry.  John Fuller married Elizabeth Rose, daughter and co-heiress of Fulk Rose, a Jamaican plantation owner, whose fortune probably was responsible for the additions and decorating of Brightling House, probably built in 1699.  Fuller changed the name to Rosehill in honor of his wife and bequeathed it to his so John Fuller, who died without issue in 1775.  His brother Rose, M.D. Fuller also died without issue bequeathing Rosehill to his nephew John or 'Mad Jack' Fuller, who would again make improvements to the property by adding a number of follies to it in the late 18^th century.  When Pevsner described the house in 1965, he said that it had recently been reduced, loosing its Rococo drawing room, the fireplace having been moved to Hambros Bank in Bishopsgate, London.