George II Mahogany Console Table, Circa 1745

Christie's London, 22 Arlington Street, A William Kent House, 11 May 2005, lot 20

No. 22 Arlington Street in St James's London overlooking Green Park was commissioned from the Palladian architect William Kent (c.1685-1748) in 1743 by the Prime Minister Henry Pelham, who died shortly after the building's completion in 1754. In the 19th century the house passed from Pelham's descendants to various owners inlcuding Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton, and in 1867 to Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, 2nd Baronet DL (1835-1914) and uncle by marriage to Sir Winston Churchill, who added a ballroom to the house which became an important centre for social and political gatherings in late Victorian and Edwardian London. Following World War II in 1947 the house was purchased by the Eagle Star Insurance Company who refurbished the house with a collection of 18th century furniture and works of art to complement the restored George II interiors, and this was sold when the house was acquired by the adjacent Ritz Hotel in 2005.