Lot Essay
The 'Yellow Caffey' suite was supplied by Thomas Roberts to Sir Robert Walpole, later 1st Earl of Orford (d.1745), for the Yellow Drawing Room at Houghton. As the 24 April 1729 bill presented by Roberts to Sir Robert reveals, '12 fine wallnuttree Chair frames', 'a walnuttree Settee frame' and 'a large and strong wallnuttree Couch frame, covered with 'Crimson Damask strong ticker'', were delivered on 21 October 1728 at the cost of #69 8s 3d, while the second 'large and strong wallnuttree Couch Frame' was supplied on 24 December 1728 at the cost of #4 10s (Houghton mss. RB 1. 57)
Thomas Roberts was almost certainly a member of the Roberts dynasty of 'The Royal Chair', Marylebone. Founded by Thomas Roberts (1685-1714), who was succeeded by Richard Roberts (fl.1714-29), presumably his son, as carver and joiner to the Royal Household, The Roberts family worked extensively at the Royal Palaces, as well as supplying furnishings for state ceremonies (see lot 129) and for leading courtiers such as Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu at Boughton, and William, 1st Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth
The 24 April 1729 bill presented by Thomas Roberts to Sir Robert for furnishings amounted to the sum of #1,420 8s 7½d 'less #200 by cash', an enormous commission that could only have been undertaken by a workshop of considerable size. The presence of the initials 'IS', as yet unidentified, would appear to corroborate this suggestion; it was common for craftsmen practising in a workshop the size of 'The Royal Chair' to stamp pieces with their own initials. As the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, surmised, Thomas Roberts was most probably either the brother or son of Richard and took over the workshop following his death, this premise being confirmed by the latter's disappearance from the Household Accounts at this time
In the 1745 inventory, this suite of 'Twelve chairs', 'Two settees' and 'One couch and three pillows to Do' are recorded in the 'Yellow Drawing Room', and this description is further expanded in that of 1792 when they are listed in 'No. 49 Rose Coloured Drawing Room' 'Twelve walnut tree chairs stuffed and/covered with yellow caffey and pink tammy cases'
The day-bed from this suite is illustrated in P. Macquoid & R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924-7, rev. edn., 1954, II, p. 140, fig. 13, and in R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 267,
fig. 11
Thomas Roberts was almost certainly a member of the Roberts dynasty of 'The Royal Chair', Marylebone. Founded by Thomas Roberts (1685-1714), who was succeeded by Richard Roberts (fl.1714-29), presumably his son, as carver and joiner to the Royal Household, The Roberts family worked extensively at the Royal Palaces, as well as supplying furnishings for state ceremonies (see lot 129) and for leading courtiers such as Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu at Boughton, and William, 1st Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth
The 24 April 1729 bill presented by Thomas Roberts to Sir Robert for furnishings amounted to the sum of #1,420 8s 7½d 'less #200 by cash', an enormous commission that could only have been undertaken by a workshop of considerable size. The presence of the initials 'IS', as yet unidentified, would appear to corroborate this suggestion; it was common for craftsmen practising in a workshop the size of 'The Royal Chair' to stamp pieces with their own initials. As the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, surmised, Thomas Roberts was most probably either the brother or son of Richard and took over the workshop following his death, this premise being confirmed by the latter's disappearance from the Household Accounts at this time
In the 1745 inventory, this suite of 'Twelve chairs', 'Two settees' and 'One couch and three pillows to Do' are recorded in the 'Yellow Drawing Room', and this description is further expanded in that of 1792 when they are listed in 'No. 49 Rose Coloured Drawing Room' 'Twelve walnut tree chairs stuffed and/covered with yellow caffey and pink tammy cases'
The day-bed from this suite is illustrated in P. Macquoid & R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924-7, rev. edn., 1954, II, p. 140, fig. 13, and in R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 267,
fig. 11