An early George III mahogany hall bench, circa 1760, attributed to William and John Linnell

with a scrolled serpentine toprail centred by foliage and flanked by turned finials above a panelled back edge with foliate and bead-and-reel ornament, the scrolled arms with bead-and-reel edging above a solid seat with ribbon-and-rosette carved edge and a fluted frieze, on baluster legs headed with foliage and guilloche carved bun feet, III incised to the underside of the seat

According to the Moss Harris catalogue from  Sir Stuart Samuel 1st Bt., (1856-1926) Chelwood Vetchery, Nutley, Sussex:
With Moss Harris and Sons, London, until sold:
The private collection of Luigi and Nera Laura, London:
Acquired from the above.

Moss Harris and Sons Cat., Old Furniture and Works of Decorative Art from late 16th to early 19th century, London, 1932, vol. II, p. 176, cat. no. F13308, illustrated

Comparative Literature:
Susan Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, Yale University Press, 2013;
Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, vol. II, London, 1980.

An exceptionally finely carved hall bench in good conserved condition. The seat and back with characteristic signs of wear, and some minor discolouration, commensurate with age and use. The left arm with some minor losses to the beaded decoration. The rear left leg with a minor repair to the back. With old marks and scratches to the legs, consistent with age and use.
"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 form of this magnificent hall bench derives from the furniture produced by William Kent (c. 1685–1748) for the great entrance halls of the newly built Palladian mansions of the 18th century. They were the first furnishings to greet any visitor and, through the use of quality materials, skilled workmanship and exquisite design, Kent was able to communicate the grandeur, wealth and taste of his patrons (Susan Weber, William Kent Designing Georgian Britain, London, 2013 p. 481).

The design for these antique-fluted and temple-pedimented benches is directly inspired by the architectural treatise of Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). This style was promoted by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (25 April 1694 – 15 December 1753) and his creative partner William Kent. The influence of these two men, along with architect Inigo Jones (1573–1652), on 18th century English architecture and design was unparalleled. Their designs were popularised in John Vardy’s, Some designs of Mr Inigo Jones and Mr William Kent, 1744, with the ionic Vitruvian scrolls and the acanthus wrapped volutes seen in Vardy's survey evident in the sober design of the present hall bench  (Vardy, op. cit., pl. 43). As with all ‘Kentian’ furniture the architecture of the room in which it was placed was paramount to the conception of the piece. Weber notes that the motifs in the hall benches such as the gadrooned mouldings and scrolled arms often mirror the friezes and decoration that adorned the room (Susan Weber, William Kent Designing Georgian Britain, London, 2013 p. 458).

The first examples of benches of this type were commissioned for the Stone Hall at Houghton. Kent was employed by Sir Robert Walpole to build a grand house that reflected the first British Prime Minister’s status. Here the design of the room flows into the furniture, only interrupted by the contrast in materials. These were executed by James Richards who built a career on Royal commissions from Kent. (A. Moore, Houghton Hall, London, 1996 p. 116). Further to this in 1731 Kent designed a set of hall furniture for Lodge Park, Sherborne including “2 mahogany settees for ye dining room at ye Lodge carved” (see Christopher Gilbert, ‘James Moore the Younger and William Kent at Sherborne House’, The Burlington Magazine, March 1969, pp. 146, p.148-9) now in the collection Temple Newsam, Leeds. These benches demonstrate the more experimental baroque characteristics typical of this earlier style of hall furniture. William Cavendish, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire commissioned a set of six benches for the hall of Devonshire House in London of almost identical design to the present bench (fig. 1). This set would undoubtedly be known to Linnell whose workshop was behind Devonshire House on Berkeley Square.

The present hall bench with its sphere-capped pillars, tapered columnar legs and ribbon-and-rosette moulded seat belongs to a group of hall benches associated to this model but attributed to William and John Linnell circa 1760. A sketch of John Linnell’s relating to a very similar hall bench can be found in a folio of his designs dated circa 1758-60 in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, vol. II, London, 1980, fig. 229), whilst Susan Weber in her accompanying monograph to the William Kent exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum (2014) notes that John Linnell was most likely following a drawing by his father William of a William Kent bench (Weber, op. cit., p. 488) (fig. 2). Hayward and Kirkham posit that both William and John Linnell were employed by Kent as cabinet makers having executed a table for James West (1703-1772) at Alscot Park. This working relationship between the Linnell firm and Kent is further enforced by a set of garden benches at Rousham circa 1738. The firm carved seven external, painted, benches to sit in the alcoves above the river at Praeneste in arguably Kent’s finest landscape garden.

At the beginning of the 1760s John Linnell was breaking with the declining Rococo tradition and focusing more on the decorative motifs of neo-classicism found in his father’s work (Hayward and Kirkham, op. cit., p. 79). We know that an identical pair to the bench offered here was created by John Linnell for Grimsthorpe Castle. They were presumably commissioned by Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster, and one can see that Ancaster was a debtor of the Linnell firm on the death of William Linnell in 1763 (op. cit., p.86). This later commission from the Linnell firm is further underlined by the commission they received from the Countess of Leicester at Holkham, although built in the 1740s the grand apartment which contains the hall was not furnished until 1760 coinciding with and or creating the revival of Kentian inspired furniture.

The suite that bears the closest comparison to the present lot are a set of six hall benches recorded in the collection of Thomas Villiers, 2nd Earl of Clarendon of the second creation (1753-1824) which are thought to have been commissioned by the Earl’s father, Thomas Villiers 1st Earl of Clarendon (1709-1786), for the newly acquired family seat, The Grove in Hertfordshire. They appear in the 1824 Inventory of the Grove taken by J Orchard as ‘6 carved mahogany Hall Sofas’. The inventory is accompanied by sketches showing all six benches in situ. A pair of benches from the original six commissioned for the Grove was sold at Christie’s, London, 11th April 1985, lot 130 and a further pair was sold in these rooms, Sotheby’s London, Treasures, 9 July 2014, lot 39.

A related pair of hall chairs commissioned by Edwin Lascelles for Harewood House and attributed to William and John Linnell, was sold in the Simon Sainsbury sale Christie’s, London, 18th June 2008, lot 10. Four chairs and a single bench of the same suite had previously been offered by the Earl of Harewood at Christie’s, London, 28th June, 1951, lot 64.