An important pair of George I gilt-gesso marble top pier tables attributed to John Gumely and James Moore the elder Circa 1715-1725

each with a rectangular Siena marble top over a slight concave apron, with strapwork motif interspersed by bellflowers and acanthus leaves at the corners, over cockbeaded molding, on scrolling tapering paneled legs with strapwork and bellflower motif, joined by a stretcher centered by a lozenge and flanked by C-shaped stretchers with guilloche banding, on quatrefoil voluted leaf-carved panel feet, decorated throughout on a scaled ground.  Each with a circular paper label inscribed 237 / P.

possibly supplied to James, 3rd Viscount Scudamore for Holme Lacy, Herefordshire

Thence by descent to Edwyn Scudamore-Stanhope, 10th Earl of Chesterfield, Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire

The Property of the late Lady Menzies, sold by Order of the Executors, Christie's, London, April 10, 1986, lot 95

Margaret Jourdain, 'Furniture at Beningbrough Hall', Country Life, December 3, 1927, p. 855

'Beningbrough Hall - II. Yorkshire', Country Life, December 3, 1927, pp. 824 (illustrated), 829

Ralph Edwards and Margaret Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet-Makers, London: Country Life Ltd.,  rev. ed. 1946, p. 92, fig. 17 (illustrated)

Overall good original condition; the gesso and gilding stable and with old craquelure and retaining old gilding with usual rubbing, wear and losses to gilding; undersides of half-circular stretchers with old supports; the later marble tops with minor chips to edges and corners; the first table with minor hairline horizontal age crack to left side frieze approximately 8 inches in length and with minor hairline age crack to right side frieze approximately 3 inches long; the other with two minor horizontal age cracks to the right side frieze approximately 9 ½ inches and 6 ½ inches respectively; very minor chips to gesso in places mainly to collars above right feet and small chips to leaf tip of front right leg.
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.

As Royal Cabinetmaker to King George I, James Moore the Elder of Nottingham Court, Short's Gardens, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London, supplied furniture to a variety of members of the Royal Court, working from his earliest recorded commission in 1705 for the Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah until his death in 1726.  Moore was possibly originally apprenticed to Elizabeth Gumley (1674-d. 1751) and her son John (1691-1727).  The accounts of the Royal Palaces on October 2, 1702, record an entry noting the receipt by John Gumley of 'the Summe of Sixty pounds being in full for a looking-glass ....delivered for his late Majties [sic] use in the Year 1691'.  In 1714 they entered into partnership with James Moore, an association that continued until his death in 1726, although it is obvious from surviving documentary evidence that the partners frequently carried out individual commissions, besides those for the Royal Household.

One of Moore's major clients was Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, 'becoming as much involved with building work and the supervision of fitting out apartments as with cabinet making' at Blenheim Palace (Beard and Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986. pp. 618-619).  Although Duchess Sarah referred to Moore as her 'oracle', the large group of gesso-ornamented furniture in the collection at Blenheim is virtually undocumented and attribution has to be made on stylistic grounds.  The giltwood tables attributed to James Moore support much of his reputation, demonstrating a gallant style and utilization of a wide array of influences. His work draws from an awareness of English baroque architecture and from the influence of both oriental export and French styles. These inspirations combine to create Moore's characteristic carved and gilt patterns evident in the legs and frieze of his gilt gesso tables, which are employed with other elements for the attribution to Moore in the absence of an official signature.

The elaborately carved gesso adorns the tapered legs of the present marble-topped tables, beginning at the ionic capitals and concluding at the beautiful acanthus-fronded feet. Intricate strapwork decorates the table, recalling the designs of Daniel Marot in the frieze and including sprays of roses and jasmine on the legs and stretcher.  These attributes and overall design are almost identical to a group of tables by Moore made between 1715 and 1726, being almost identical to a pair he supplied to Lord Cobham for Stowe and to a group of tables he and his partner John Gumley supplied to George I for Kensington Palace between 1725 and 1727.

His extensive list of patrons included many who were intimately connected to the Royal Household including Ralph, 1^st Duke of Montagu and his son John, both of whom were Masters of the Wardrobe, who was possibly responsible for his Royal position. Moore also supplied the furniture to Harcourt House, Cavendish Square, the London house of Simon, 1^st Viscount Harcourt.  A former Lord Chancellor to Queen Anne, his country seat, Stanton Harcourt, was close to Shirburn Castle, the seat of Lord Macclesfield.  Other known patrons include the Duchess of Buccleuch, Dalkeith Palace, and the 3^rd Earl of Burlington, Burlington House, Piccadilly.  It is interesting to note that an account for Burlington House is annotated 'received for the use of my Master. Mr James Moore by me Benjamin Goodison' who succeeded Moore as the Royal Cabinetmaker on the latter's death in 1726.

BENINGBROUGH HALL

The house, which was granted by Henry VIII in 1544, had an unbroken family history until 1917 when it was sold to Edwyn Scudamore-Stanhope, 10^th Earl of Chesterfield. The previous owners, the Dawnay family were direct descendants of the Bourchiers who were responsible for building Beningbrough in its present guise. Having acquired vacant possession of the building the Chesterfields filled it with contents transferred from Holme Lacy, Herefordshire including a magnificent pair of gilt-gesso chandeliers, attributed to James Moore. (One sold at Christie's, New York, April 21-22, 1995, lot 243, and now is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.)  The present tables are illustrated in situ in the Country Life article of December 3, 1927 in the saloon on the piers between the windows.  However, the present tables do not appear in the sale of contents from Holme Lacy of 1910, whereas a number of other pieces, such as the chandeliers, were listed, but were unsold.  It is interesting to note the Francis Lenygon acquired a number of pieces of furniture for the Chesterfields including a large and magnificent pair of gilt-gesso pier mirrors attributed to John Belchier (d.1753) originally from Denham Place, Buckinghamshire.  In 1957 the death of the Countess of Chesterfield precipitated a sale of the contents the following year with only a few items such as the two state beds remaining, having been accepted by the Treasury in Lieu of tax along with the house and park.

HOLME LACY

There had been a house on or near the present site at Holme Lacy from late Mediaeval times, another house being built during the reign of Henry VIII.  The present house was re-built by Anthony Deane (d. 1679) of Uffington for Sir John Scudamore, 2^nd Viscount Scudamore (d. 1697) from 1673-74.  The contract of that year states that the principal windows and chimney-stacks were 'to be done as Sr. John Duncombe's are at Battlesden' and if there was any dispute the problem was to be 'submitted to the finall Arbitrament and determination of Hugh May esqr.' (See H.M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of English Architects, 1660-1840, London: John Murray, 1954, pp. 170 and 384)  Hugh May (1622-84), who was the architect for a number of important commissions including Eltham Lodge and Corbury House became Comptroller of the Works and architect to Windsor Castle for Charles II.  Deane was a master mason and May was probably responsibly for the plans for Holme Lacy.  May also may have been responsible for introducing Grinling Gibbons, who supplied much of the intricate carving at Holme Lacy, to the Scudamores.

James Scudamore, 3^rd Viscount married Frances, only daughter of Simon, Lord Digby, and died in 1716, leaving an only daughter and heiress also named Frances (1711-1749/50) who married first Henry Somerset, 3^rd Duke of Beaufort, 28 June 1729 and was divorced 2 March 1743/4 due her adultery with William Talbot (subsequently Earl Talbot).  She then married Charles FitzRoy later FitzRoy Scudamore. illegitimate son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton, by whom she had a daughter Frances (d. 1820), who was heiress of the Scudamore estates, and married the 11th Duke of Norfolk and died without issue.  The estates eventually passed to the Earls of Chesterfield who were descended through the 1^st Viscount's sister Mary.  It is possible that either James Scudamore or his daughter Frances may have commissioned the chandeliers and the tables from James Moore the elder; however the lack of any bills and the tables' tentative association with the house make it difficult to support this theory.

KENSINGTON PALACE

As the Royal Cabinet makers, Gumely and Moore supplied a large quantity of furniture to the Royal Household including a quantity of gilt-gesso furniture to the Prince and Princess of Wales at Hampton Court from 1715 to 1716 as well as a large quantity of furniture to George I for Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace underwent a large rebuilding scheme from 1718 onwards where new State apartments were created including a Privy Chamber, Cube Room, Drawing Room, Bedchamber, Council Chamber and Presence Chamber.  The King's Gallery was also remodeled.  In 1722, William Kent was appointed to paint the ceilings of the main rooms and by 1724 the Duke of Montague was ordered to 'provide and deliver' furniture for the new apartments.

Adam Bowett in 'George I's Furniture at Kensington Palace', Apollo, November 2005, argues that much of the gilt-gesso furniture, which was in Hampton Court Palace in 1927, has been incorrectly associated with that palace and suggests that some of it was originally commissioned by George I, rather than his son, for Kensington Palace.  Part of the argument is based on the sizes of the window piers as well as the height of the dados in correlation with the height of the tables.  Bowett points out that the height of the tables differs from the height of the dados at Hampton Court by 20 cm or so.  The majority of the pieces in Hampton Court, which Bowett suggests were commissioned for Kensington, each have the Royal cipher of George I.  Considering that George I and his son the Prince of Wales had a difficult relationship, it is reasonable to assume that the Prince of Wales would not have ordered furniture with his father's cipher.

The present tables are identical in the design of their friezes, legs and stretchers to that of a pair of tables possibly originally intended for the King's Drawing Room at Kensington Palace, one of which is now in Buckingham Palace.  These tables costing £36 were the most expensive tables from Moore and the largest at 85 cm high, 144.5 cm wide and 68 cm deep.  Each of them has an elaborately carved gilt-gesso top as well as a very deep foliate apron centered by the crowned Royal cipher and flanked by cartouches carved with the rose and thistle representing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland.  The Bedchamber and drawing room would have been linked in terms of the interior design as well as the furnishings as they are adjacent to one another and follow the stately progression of rooms.  The original warrant for the furniture states ' For the Bedchamber, a new Bed compleat of rich Crimson Damask trimed with Silk Orice Lace, three pair of Window Curtains, Vallances & Cornishes of the same Damask with silk lines and Tassells, One Armed Chair and twelve Stools covered with the same Damask with Crimson Silk Taffata Case, and a case Curtain of Crimson Silk Taffata for the Bed, Two looking glasses, two Tables four Stands – gilt, and a fire screen.  For the Drawing Room Hangings of Crimson Damask, Twenty four Stools and one Armed Chair of the Same, with false Cases of Crimosn Silk Taffata, two looking Glasses, two Tables, and four Stands gilt, and four Chandeliers of ten Nozels each...'

Bowett also notes that the tables in Bedchamber were 'the least expensive at £12 each and probably the smallest or least elaborate.  However, no stands were included en suite... it is likely that the tables made for the Bedchamber do not survive...'  It is interesting to note that the widths of the two piers in the King's Bedchamber are approximately 117 cm and 119 cm respectively and therefore the offered tables at a width of 90.8 cm would fit comfortably.

See:

Adam Bowett, 'George I's Furniture at Kensington', Apollo, November 2005, pp. 37-46.

Tessa Murdoch, 'The King's Cabinet-Maker: The Giltwood Furniture of James Moore the Elder', The Burlington Magazine, 2003. pp. 408-420