THE DESIGN OF THE GRATE ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGE BULLOCK

Details

A REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED STEEL BASKET-GRATE, FENDER AND SET OF THREE FIRE-IRONS
The design of the grate attributed to George Bullock
The grate with rounded rectangular basket with bars, with a triangular pedimented back, flanked on each side by foliage-mounted pilasters with detachable paw feet, lacking the two mounts on the capitals of the pilasters; the fender of rounded rectangular form with a pierced frieze with foliate mounts, with a pair of detachable turned baluster fire-iron supports, on paw feet; the fire-irons each with turned baluster handles, comprising a poker, a pierced shovel and a pair of tongs
The grate: 23¾ in. (60 cm.) high; 33¼ in. (84.5 cm.) wide; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) deep
The fender: 8 in. (20 cm.) high; 48¾ in. (124 cm.) wide; 15 in. (38 cm.) deep
The fire-irons: 28 in. (71 cm.) long (5)

Provenance

Almost certainly supplied to George, 5th Earl of Essex (d. 1839) for Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire, and by descent to
Algernon, 8th Earl of Essex, by whom the house was demolished and the contents sold in 1922.
Bought at that sale by the family of the present owner and by descent.

Exhibited

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, on loan 1963-2000.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The ormolu-enriched grate, conceived in the early 19th Century French antique manner, has its Grecian pediment enriched with an Apollo sunburst, and pilasters wrapped by palm-enriched acanthus and terminating in bacchic lion-paws. It formed part of the aggrandisement of Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire carried out from 1800 to 1805 for George, 5th Earl of Essex (d. 1839) by the architect James Wyatt (d. 1813). The form of the trussed pilasters evolved from that of a celebrated Roman antiquity known as the 'Tomb of Agrippa' and reflects the robust antique style promoted by the court architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (d. 1842). The design of the grate is attributed to George Bullock (d. 1818), who later introduced a variation of the design for a stove for the Study at Tew Park, Oxfordshire (see C. Gilbert and A. Wells-Cole, The Fashionable Fire Place, Temple Newsam Country House Studies, Leeds, 1985, p. 30, cat. no. 22).
A related grate, that featured the additional palm-flowered foliage at the top of the pilasters, was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 13 November 1997, lot 91.

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