A MAHOGANY AND EBONISED HALL STAND CARVED WITH ENTWINED SERPENTS

This lot is offered without reserve. No VAT will … Read more

THE NOTTING HILL LOOK The contents of a stucco-fronted house in Notting Hill exemplifies the contemporary sensibility for space and light in the way an eclectic array of art and antiques have been arranged. The owners of this airy, light, l9th Century town villa in Notting Hill have gained space and light by exploiting the strong architectural details and decorative plasterwork in the handsome rooms, painting many of the interiors white, and exposing wide, gleaming floorboards. Inspired by the legendary flair of Geoffrey Bennison, the theatrical arrangements of furniture, art and decorative objects in the house play cleverly to the size and architecture of its rooms. For if the Victorians who originally lived here would have used every available inch of space, filling it with over-upholstered furniture, aspidistras, potted palms, clutters of pictures and occasional tables, the present owners with sure touch have given their very varied finds visual room to breathe. Each piece is given enough space to be highly visible. There are references to earlier decorative looks at Ladbroke Gardens which we look at with fresh eyes in their present disposition. There are, for instance, many Grand Tour pieces that punctuate these rooms from the neo-classical pillar lamps, to decorative objects and furniture such as the late Regency brass mounted mahogany daybed lot 449, circa l8l5-20 whose seat rail is carved with a seductive scrolled serpent. And any Grand Tourist would have leapt at lot 391, A Leopard Hunt after Antonio Tempesta, l7th century. The collection of sixteen photographs of Roman classical ruins and monuments, 20th Century, lot 405 are framed in large, stylish mahogany, satinwood and ebony veneered frames. The Gentlemans Club, a favourite of Victorians also gets a play in the leather covered chairs and sofas such as lot 253 the late Victorian green leather upholstered easy armchair by Trollope and Sons, circa l890 which, in its wonderfully distressed condition looks as if it weathered many a rough night of horseplay at Drones Club. A more up to date leather chair lot 67 is after a design by Charles Eames a classic of late 20th Century design. The English fascination for the cultural strangeness of foreign lands is hinted at in the Ceylonese ebony and inlaid octagonal centre table, circa l850, lot 185. This is a fantastic table with spiralled specimen veneered panels to the top giving it the look of an exotic fossil. The early 20th Century North African mother-of-pearl and ivory inlaid polygonal centre table, lot 254 illustrates the continuing fascination for Levant furniture in the contemporary interior. But the star piece of exotica is undoubtedly the massive antique Ziegler carpet from Sultanabad lot 102, in the drawing room of Ladbroke Gardens. The large scale exotic design expressed in gentle pastel colours is very much in vogue. Closer to home, lot 398 the supremely elegant George II mahogany and boxwood architectural estate cabinet, circa l750 and lot 148 the large Irish mahogany dining table by Mack Williams & Gibton, c l820 are both very handsome reminders of the golden age of the Great House. At Ladbroke Gardens, the parts are the sum of the whole. With unique flair, the owners have demonstrated that antiques of every date and style need not look fussy or passH but arranged in a new way can teach an old house new tricks. Meredith Etherington-Smith THE ENTRANCE HALL

A MAHOGANY AND EBONISED HALL STAND CARVED WITH ENTWINED SERPENTS

OF REGENCY STYLE, LATE 20TH CENTURY

Details

A MAHOGANY AND EBONISED HALL STAND CARVED WITH ENTWINED SERPENTS
OF REGENCY STYLE, LATE 20TH CENTURY
88in. (224cm.) high; 23in. (59cm.) wide; 12in. (30in.) deep

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. This lot is subject to storage and collection charges. **For Furniture and Decorative Objects, storage charges commence 7 days from sale. Please contact department for further details.**

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