CIRCA 1750, ON A LATER BASE

Details

A GEORGE II GRAINED FOUR-ROOM 'BABY' HOUSE
CIRCA 1750, ON A LATER BASE
Painted to simulate oak, with sash windows, the interior by repute redecorated by Charlotte Brontë in 1839, with a large collection of dolls house furnishings added by Roger Warner, on a later painted arched brickwork base made by Roger Warner
73¼ in. (186 cm.) high; 53½ in. (136 cm.) wide; 23 in. (59 cm.) deep

Provenance

By repute, the Sidgewick family, Stonegappe, Lothersdale, Skipton, Yorkshire and by descent to the Greenwood family, Swarcliffe Hall, Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Purchased by Roger Warner at Morphet & Morphet's house sale on 19 March 1974, lot 378.

Exhibited

'Childhood', A Loan Exhibition, Sotheby's London, 2-27 November 1988, no. 187.

Special notice

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.

Sale room notice

Please note that the provenance should read Stonegappe and not Stoneygate as printed in the catalogue.

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Lot Essay

Charlotte Brontë was employed as governess to the Sidgwick children from May to July 1839. Family tradition in the Sidgwick Greenwood family dictates that Charlotte Brontë redecorated the interior of the 'Baby' House while employed as governess.
Juliet Barker, author of The Brontë's records 'In June, the Sidgwicks left Stonegappe to stay at Swarcliffe, a summer residence belonging to Mrs Sidgwick's father, John Greenwood, at Birstwith, three miles from Ripon.'
Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Brontë (ch. VIII) quotes from a letter written to Emily Brontë in 1839, 'I said in my last letter that Mrs [Sidgwick] did not know me. I now begin to find she does not intend to know me; that she cares nothing about me, except to contrive how the greatest possible quantity of labour may be got out of me; and to that end she overwhelms me with oceans of needlework; yards of cambric to hem, muslin night-caps to make, and, above all things, dolls to dress.'

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