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Lot Essay
The idiosyncratic use of fruitwood typifies the distinctive oeuvre of Jean-François Hache (1730-96), the best known of the celebrated family of cabinet-makers established in Grenoble since the end of the 17th Century. The fourth of the twelve children of Pierre Hache, he set up his own business around 1754, producing a wide variety of both domestic and luxury furniture, often employing distinctive local woods.
A closely related table à jeu and a small side table by Jean-François Hache, both with similarly shaped friezes are illustrated in R. Fonvielle, La Dynastie des Hache, Grenoble, 1974, p. 34 and 41.
DONNINGTON GROVE
Donnington Grove was built in the 1760s by John Chute (1701-1776) for James Pettit Andrews, author and antiquary. It was described by Pevsner as "a little Gothic gem" and it was furnished and lived in by Marguerite Siverine Philippine Decazes de Glücksbierg (1887-1962), better known as Daisy Fellowes. The Hon. Mrs. Reginald Fellowes was a celebrated 20th-century society figure, acclaimed beauty, minor novelist and poet, erstwhile editor of Harpers Bazaar, fashion icon, and an heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used her discerning eye to passionately restore Donnington Grove to its former glory, particularly pursuing her liking for whimsey, gothic and chinoiserie, which had attracted her to the house in the beginning.
A closely related table à jeu and a small side table by Jean-François Hache, both with similarly shaped friezes are illustrated in R. Fonvielle, La Dynastie des Hache, Grenoble, 1974, p. 34 and 41.
DONNINGTON GROVE
Donnington Grove was built in the 1760s by John Chute (1701-1776) for James Pettit Andrews, author and antiquary. It was described by Pevsner as "a little Gothic gem" and it was furnished and lived in by Marguerite Siverine Philippine Decazes de Glücksbierg (1887-1962), better known as Daisy Fellowes. The Hon. Mrs. Reginald Fellowes was a celebrated 20th-century society figure, acclaimed beauty, minor novelist and poet, erstwhile editor of Harpers Bazaar, fashion icon, and an heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used her discerning eye to passionately restore Donnington Grove to its former glory, particularly pursuing her liking for whimsey, gothic and chinoiserie, which had attracted her to the house in the beginning.