- 34
A pair of George III Anglo-Indian carved ivory griffin-form candlesticks, Murshidabab, late 18th Century, after the design by Sir William Chambers
Description
- ivory
- 44cm. high, 24cm. wide, 15cm. deep; 19 ½in., 9 ½in., 6in.
Provenance
Purchased from William Redford, London.
Exhibited
Literature
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
N. Goodison, 'William Chambers's Furniture', Furniture History, 1990, vol. XXVI, p. 67-89.
N. Goodison, Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton, London, 1974, pp. 157-58.
J. Harris and M. Snodin, eds., Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III, New Haven, 1996, pp. 160-62.
J. Bourne and V. Brett, Lighting in the Domestic Interior, London, 1991, p. 122, figs. 411 & 413.
Condition
"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."
Catalogue Note
Several examples of this model appear in ormolu and are attributed to Chambers' preferred bronzier Diederich Nicolaus Anderson. These include examples a pair sold anonymously at Christie's London, 12 November 1998, lot 5 (£155,500); a pair at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, a third pair with Egyptian porphyry bases with the National Trust, Hinton Ampner House, Hampshire (illustrated in J. Harris and M. Snodin, ibid, p. 162, fig. 242); and a pair sold Sotheby's Florence, 6-7 April 1987, lot 590. All these would have been made prior to Anderson's death in 1767 and it seems likely that Chambers then passed his design to Josiah Wedgwood who produced this model in his Basaltware.
A single ivory example, closely matching the ormolu examples and comparative to the current examples but without the elaborate lion mask bases which support the current griffins was sold The Property of a Gentleman, Sotheby's London, 4th December 2013, lot 450, £75,650.
In his essay on the ivory pieces in the Gerstenfeld Collection, op. cit., Amin Jaffer suggests that while it is not inconceivable that these ivory examples were produced from a model in another medium, the inclusion of the medallion on the chain around the neck of the griffin does not appear on ceramic examples while the drip-pans and socket differ from ormolu comparables, and perhaps suggests that these were produced from the detailed drawings.
Warren Hastings, Governor-General of British India
Warren Hastings amassed a large quantity of ivory furniture including one of the most celebrated suites of ivory furniture made in the Murshidabad in the second half of the eighteenth century, a part of which was sold at Sotheby's London, 4th December 2013, lots 545-547. The suite was commissioned by Mani Begum, the widow of Mir Jafar, Nawab of Murshidabad and presented to Warren Hastings, Governor General of Bengal. A number of letters between Hastings, his wife Marian and Nesbitt-Thompson, their agent in Calcutta indicate that Hastings received a number of gifts of ivory furniture from Mani Begum, both whilst in India and after his return to England in 1784. Indeed, the 1799 inventory of Hastings’ country estate Daylesford in Gloucestershire, which he acquired in 1788, lists a relatively meagre amount of ivory furniture in comparison to the amount that was later offered in the Daylesford sale by Hastings’ son-in-law, General Sir Charles Imhoff in 1853.
Whilst the current candlesticks are not apparently recorded in the Daylesford sale that does not preclude them having formed part of the interiors which included a vast array of ivory furniture.