Lot Essay
The Palladian house at Bretton Park, Yorkshire, was built in 1730 for Sir William Wentworth, Bt., by Colonel James Moyser. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries distinguished architects added to and altered the house: John Carr in 1793, William Atkinson in 1807, Sir Jeffry Wyattville in 1815 and George Basevi in 1842 (H. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1660-1840, 3rd. ed., London, 1995, pp. 107, 225, 672). The early Victorian improvements to the house included the magnificent naturalistic carvings in the style of Grinling Gibbons that are now attributed to William Gibbs Rogers and which were sold, Christie's London, 5 July 1990, lots 28-31.