BY SAUNDERS AND BRACKEN, CIRCA 1772

Details

A GEORGE III GILTWOOD BED CANOPY
BY SAUNDERS AND BRACKEN, CIRCA 1772
With slightly domed top and gadrooned rim carved with acanthus sprays, with traces of original yellow silk, losses, the top board replaced, the interior now lined with white cotton, originally with pineapple finial
71 in. (180.5 cm.) wide; 40½ in. (103 cm.) deep

Provenance

Supplied by Saunders and Bracken to Gertrude, the Dowager 4th Duchess of Bedford in 1772, either for Bedford House, Bloomsbury or Woburn.
Subsequently placed in the Polonnaise Room, now the Flying Duchess' Room.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This Venus shell bed canopy with watery gadrooning was supplied by Saunders and Bracken to Gertrude, the Dowager 4th Duchess of Bedford in 1772. It was described as 'a neat canopy with gadrooned cornice carved middle and corners with pineapple at top - £4. 15s & Hangings. £25.12s.6'. The gadrooned window pelmets in the State Saloon and the Reynolds Room at Woburn are presumably by the same hand.

Paul Saunders (d.1771) was appointed Tapestry Maker to His Majesty in September 1757. Working in partnership with George Smith Bradshaw and subsequently succeeded by Saunders & Bracken (1774-1794), the firm was extensively patronised by the 4th Duke and Duchess of Bedford from 1765 until 1783, particularly at Bedford House, Bloomsbury.

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