A George III Carved and White Painted Wood Fireplace Surround and Overmantel with a pair of corresponding Architectural Elements in the form of Palm Fronds, Third Quarter Eighteenth Century

Sotheby's London, 30 June 2004, lot 96;

Mario Buatta: Prince of Interiors, Sotheby's New York, 23-24 January 2000, lot 897.

This extremely rare surviving ensemble presumably formed part of a 'Palm Room', with the taller wall appliques probably flanking doorways or sculptural niches and the room's furniture likely designed en suite with similar carving.

The concept of using palm fronds as exotic architectural elements in an interior date back to the 17th century, seen in a 1665 drawing by John Webb for the proposed decoration of Charles II's bedchamber at Greenwich Palace, never realized (RIBA, ill. in A. Keay, The Magnificent Monarch. Charles II and the Ceremonies of Power, London 2008, p.99 fig.16), but it was not until the mid-18th century that such schemes actually came to fruition, most famously at Spencer House London, designed initially by the Palladian architect John Vardy (1718-1765) for John, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1785) in 1756. The Palm Room was the architectural climax of the ground floor with parcel gilt palm columns extending their fronds into the spandrels of the room's dividing archway and cupola. The design was inspired by Webb's drawing, which at the time was thought to be by the hand of Inigo Jones and therefore acceptable to the Palladian credo, signifying the symbiosis between classical architecture and nature. Vardy is also believed to have designed the room's celebrated suite of seat furniture, executed by John Gordon, comprising armchairs, sofas, stools and benches with legs and rails carved with palm reliefs.

Palm decoration would continue to appear in interiors throughout the neoclassical period and were used by Robert Adam on several projects in the 1760s, such as the tea house at Moor Park in the 1760s (ill. C. Hussey, English Country Houses - Early Georgian, p.44, fig.38) and more spectacularly in the State Bedchamber at Kedleston Hall, with the giltwood four poster bed and associated pier glasses terminating in richly carved palm leaves