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Lot Essay
LORD CLIVE AND WALCOT
These chairs are reputed to have been supplied to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey ('Clive of India') for his principal home Walcot in Shropshire. This attribution is first cited when a pair of chairs from the suite was sold at public auction by Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in 1936. Many avenues have been pursued to try to confirm this provenance but these leads have not produced firm evidence by way of inventories or sale entries. Walcot inventories of 1788, 1830 and 1904 (annotated in 1908) are available among the Powis papers at the Shropshire City Council but a suite comprising twelve chairs does not appear in these listings. Furthermore, the chairs do not appear in the sale of the effects of Walcot sold by Harrods, 22-26 July 1929. While discouraging, the Clive properties were many and their furnishings difficult to trace as there was frequent movement between the various houses, particularly throughout the nineteenth century, including their Berkeley Square, London home as well as Powis Castle in Wales, and Styche, Claremont and Oakley Park in Shropshire. In fact, an impressive George II giltwood suite of about the same date was moved from 45 Berkeley Square to Powis sometime in the nineteenth century (the suite was offered at Sotheby's New York, 1 November 1985, lot 267). Oakley was apparently Lady Clive's favorite house, having come into the family when their son married Lord Powis's niece in 1784. It was here where Lady Clive died in 1817, bu frustratingly no inventories appear to have been drawn up at the time of her death. The house now belongs to the Earl of Plymouth, whose forbears inherited it through marriage in the 19th century (see 'Oakley Park, Shropshire, Country Life, 22 March 1990, pp.152-159).
The Clive connection is further suggested by a suite of gilded chairs of virtually the same model, although with larger scale carving to the seatrail, which are upholstered in what appears to be 18th or 19th century needlework worked with an Earl's coronet above the cypher 'C'. A pair of these chairs appears in M. Girouard, Town and Country, London, 1992, p.114 when they were in the possession of Lieutenant-Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury (d.1963) at Belvedere House, Co. Westmeath (and previously lent to Charleville Forest, Co. Offay in 1962). A set of four chairs with the same upholstery was sold by Rex Beaumont Esq., Christie's London, 23 November 1967, lot 105. A pair of chairs of this model was most recently sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 12-13 April 1996, lot 460 (£178,500), which although covered in different upholstery are reputed to be the from the Beaumont set of four. Certainly it is possible that two sets of a similarly impressive design could have been ordered for different houses.
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey (d.1774) ranks among England's legendary figures in eighteenth century politics. After little more than twelve years in India from 1743-53, 1754-60 and 1765-7, Clive's military and political successes completely changed the British position in India from that of relatively small traders to one of dominant political force. The son of an unsuccessful Shropshire squire, Clive had gone to India in 1743 as a junior clerk to the East India Company. In the decade that followed, he established himself as a superb soldier in the Company's army, with the capture of Arcot (1751) and relief of the siege of Trichonopoly (1752) thwarting French ambitions in Bengal. In 1757, his victory at Plassey established effective British control in Bengal. From 1760-1764, he returned to England and was created Lord Clive of Plassey. The end of Clive's life was marked by speculation about alleged corruption while he was in India. Although acquitted in 1773, his health had been broken and he committed suicide in 1774.
Reputedly the wealthiest man in England, Lord Clive purchased Walcot and its 80,000 acre park in 1764 from Charles Walcot and commissioned Sir William Chambers (d.1796), architect to King George III, to redesign the house entirely. Chambers, in turn, employed master craftsmen such as the carver Sefferin Alken and the ornamental plasterer Joseph Wilton in the refurbishing of the house.
Chambers acclaimed himself to be 'really a Very pretty Connoisseur in furniture', a statement made to Lord Melbourne in 1773 when he was not consulted on furniture designs provided by Chippendale for Melbourne House in Piccadilly. Another known collaboration between the two artisans occurs much earlier in 1764, at which time Chippendale supplied a design for a breakfront for Pembroke House (see J. Harris and M. Snodin, Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III, London, 1996, pp. 164-165). Notably, this early collaboration occurred at the same time as the renovation of Walcot. No further correspondence or invoices can provide evidence of any other projects undertaken together; however, Chambers exercised very close supervision in the matters of the decorative arts, and frequently acted as paymaster on his projects. Other fashionable cabinet-makers also worked with Chambers on various projects, including Mayhew and Ince, who shared a number of clients from the late 1760's.
These magnificent chairs are superb examples of the 'picturesque' style invented by artists, architects and ornamenistes such as Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (d.1750) and Gilles-Marie Oppenord (d.1742) and praised by the artist William Hogarth in his Analysis of Beauty, 1753. This style relates to Chippendale's early 1750's 'French chair' shop sign at his St. Martin's Lane establishment and his 1753 engraved 'French Chairs' illustrated in the first edition of the Director of 1754. Their 'picturesque' design with serpentined frames enriched with husk-festooned Roman acanthus, displays Love's 'targes' or shields embossed in scalloped cartouches, while their 'Cupid-bow' crestings are supported by Roman trusses springing from whorled volutes. The cresting, with Love's target displayed in open fret above a shell-scalloped lambrequin corresponds to his 1759 bed-head design published in the 1762 Director, pl.XXLX. This 'targe' also appears in his highly popular 'new pattern' chair illustrated in both the 1754 and 1762 editions of the Director, plates XLL and XIII respectively.
Certainly, the quality of the carving and robust design relates these chairs to known Chippendale commissions, such as the suite supplied for Sir Lawrence Dundas for 19 Arlington Street, London (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, New York, 1978, vol.II p.105, fig.177) however, there are none of the structural elements usually found on furniture from Chippendale's workshop, such as cut-cramps or batten holes for affixing the chairs during transport. Whether this suite was made by Thomas Chippendale's or whether it was produced in another major London workshop, these chairs are tours de forces and rank among the most impressive suites in mid-18th century England.
These chairs are reputed to have been supplied to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey ('Clive of India') for his principal home Walcot in Shropshire. This attribution is first cited when a pair of chairs from the suite was sold at public auction by Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in 1936. Many avenues have been pursued to try to confirm this provenance but these leads have not produced firm evidence by way of inventories or sale entries. Walcot inventories of 1788, 1830 and 1904 (annotated in 1908) are available among the Powis papers at the Shropshire City Council but a suite comprising twelve chairs does not appear in these listings. Furthermore, the chairs do not appear in the sale of the effects of Walcot sold by Harrods, 22-26 July 1929. While discouraging, the Clive properties were many and their furnishings difficult to trace as there was frequent movement between the various houses, particularly throughout the nineteenth century, including their Berkeley Square, London home as well as Powis Castle in Wales, and Styche, Claremont and Oakley Park in Shropshire. In fact, an impressive George II giltwood suite of about the same date was moved from 45 Berkeley Square to Powis sometime in the nineteenth century (the suite was offered at Sotheby's New York, 1 November 1985, lot 267). Oakley was apparently Lady Clive's favorite house, having come into the family when their son married Lord Powis's niece in 1784. It was here where Lady Clive died in 1817, bu frustratingly no inventories appear to have been drawn up at the time of her death. The house now belongs to the Earl of Plymouth, whose forbears inherited it through marriage in the 19th century (see 'Oakley Park, Shropshire, Country Life, 22 March 1990, pp.152-159).
The Clive connection is further suggested by a suite of gilded chairs of virtually the same model, although with larger scale carving to the seatrail, which are upholstered in what appears to be 18th or 19th century needlework worked with an Earl's coronet above the cypher 'C'. A pair of these chairs appears in M. Girouard, Town and Country, London, 1992, p.114 when they were in the possession of Lieutenant-Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury (d.1963) at Belvedere House, Co. Westmeath (and previously lent to Charleville Forest, Co. Offay in 1962). A set of four chairs with the same upholstery was sold by Rex Beaumont Esq., Christie's London, 23 November 1967, lot 105. A pair of chairs of this model was most recently sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 12-13 April 1996, lot 460 (£178,500), which although covered in different upholstery are reputed to be the from the Beaumont set of four. Certainly it is possible that two sets of a similarly impressive design could have been ordered for different houses.
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey (d.1774) ranks among England's legendary figures in eighteenth century politics. After little more than twelve years in India from 1743-53, 1754-60 and 1765-7, Clive's military and political successes completely changed the British position in India from that of relatively small traders to one of dominant political force. The son of an unsuccessful Shropshire squire, Clive had gone to India in 1743 as a junior clerk to the East India Company. In the decade that followed, he established himself as a superb soldier in the Company's army, with the capture of Arcot (1751) and relief of the siege of Trichonopoly (1752) thwarting French ambitions in Bengal. In 1757, his victory at Plassey established effective British control in Bengal. From 1760-1764, he returned to England and was created Lord Clive of Plassey. The end of Clive's life was marked by speculation about alleged corruption while he was in India. Although acquitted in 1773, his health had been broken and he committed suicide in 1774.
Reputedly the wealthiest man in England, Lord Clive purchased Walcot and its 80,000 acre park in 1764 from Charles Walcot and commissioned Sir William Chambers (d.1796), architect to King George III, to redesign the house entirely. Chambers, in turn, employed master craftsmen such as the carver Sefferin Alken and the ornamental plasterer Joseph Wilton in the refurbishing of the house.
Chambers acclaimed himself to be 'really a Very pretty Connoisseur in furniture', a statement made to Lord Melbourne in 1773 when he was not consulted on furniture designs provided by Chippendale for Melbourne House in Piccadilly. Another known collaboration between the two artisans occurs much earlier in 1764, at which time Chippendale supplied a design for a breakfront for Pembroke House (see J. Harris and M. Snodin, Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III, London, 1996, pp. 164-165). Notably, this early collaboration occurred at the same time as the renovation of Walcot. No further correspondence or invoices can provide evidence of any other projects undertaken together; however, Chambers exercised very close supervision in the matters of the decorative arts, and frequently acted as paymaster on his projects. Other fashionable cabinet-makers also worked with Chambers on various projects, including Mayhew and Ince, who shared a number of clients from the late 1760's.
These magnificent chairs are superb examples of the 'picturesque' style invented by artists, architects and ornamenistes such as Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (d.1750) and Gilles-Marie Oppenord (d.1742) and praised by the artist William Hogarth in his Analysis of Beauty, 1753. This style relates to Chippendale's early 1750's 'French chair' shop sign at his St. Martin's Lane establishment and his 1753 engraved 'French Chairs' illustrated in the first edition of the Director of 1754. Their 'picturesque' design with serpentined frames enriched with husk-festooned Roman acanthus, displays Love's 'targes' or shields embossed in scalloped cartouches, while their 'Cupid-bow' crestings are supported by Roman trusses springing from whorled volutes. The cresting, with Love's target displayed in open fret above a shell-scalloped lambrequin corresponds to his 1759 bed-head design published in the 1762 Director, pl.XXLX. This 'targe' also appears in his highly popular 'new pattern' chair illustrated in both the 1754 and 1762 editions of the Director, plates XLL and XIII respectively.
Certainly, the quality of the carving and robust design relates these chairs to known Chippendale commissions, such as the suite supplied for Sir Lawrence Dundas for 19 Arlington Street, London (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, New York, 1978, vol.II p.105, fig.177) however, there are none of the structural elements usually found on furniture from Chippendale's workshop, such as cut-cramps or batten holes for affixing the chairs during transport. Whether this suite was made by Thomas Chippendale's or whether it was produced in another major London workshop, these chairs are tours de forces and rank among the most impressive suites in mid-18th century England.