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Lot Essay
This 'Jupiter' eagle console table, appropriate for a 'Roman' banqueting hall, recalls Ovid's Metamorphoses of the history of the shepherd Ganymede who was borne aloft by an eagle to serve as Jupiter's cup-bearer at the banquet of the Gods. The pattern may have been invented by Lord Burlington's protégé, the artist architect William Kent (d. 1748), who provided Roman eagles in his illustrations to Alexander Pope's 1725 translation of Homer's Odyssey. The Edinburgh cabinet-maker Francis Brodie featured a related eagle table on his tradesheet, published in 1739 (F. Bamford, Dictionary of Edinburgh Furniture-Makers, Leeds, 1983, pl. 24a). Tables with a secure 18th century provenance are rare, but a notable example is a pair of eagle console tables, originally at Glemham Hall, Suffolk and probably supplied to Dudley North about 1725, following his remodelling of his recently purchased house. The latter pair of tables was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 12 November 1998, lot 80. Another related single eagle console table was sold by the late Sir John Gooch, 12th Bt., Benacre Hall, Suffolk, Sotheby's house sale, 9-11 May 2000, lot 163.
Pitfour in Perthshire was the seat of Sir Robert Richardson of Pencaitland, created 1st Baronet of Pitfour Castle in 1630. The 2nd Baronet died in 1640 after which the title became dormant until 1678. The castle was rebuilt by John Richardson in the late 18th century. It was almost certainly designed by Robert and James Adam as part of the group of Scottish castles the pair created in the last years of Robert Adam's life. Although no drawings or papers relating to the commission are known, building work was recorded at Pitfour around 1792. The Castle became the home of Sir John Stewart-Richardson, created 13th Baronet in 1837, who employed the architect John Burn and altered the castle a good deal, though some of this work has since been removed.
Photographs of the Music Room at Pitfour dating from around the time of the death of the 14th Baronet in 1895 show a variety of Victorian and earlier furniture, including the present lot, already reduced in size and supporting a hard stone-mounted cabinet.
Pitfour in Perthshire was the seat of Sir Robert Richardson of Pencaitland, created 1st Baronet of Pitfour Castle in 1630. The 2nd Baronet died in 1640 after which the title became dormant until 1678. The castle was rebuilt by John Richardson in the late 18th century. It was almost certainly designed by Robert and James Adam as part of the group of Scottish castles the pair created in the last years of Robert Adam's life. Although no drawings or papers relating to the commission are known, building work was recorded at Pitfour around 1792. The Castle became the home of Sir John Stewart-Richardson, created 13th Baronet in 1837, who employed the architect John Burn and altered the castle a good deal, though some of this work has since been removed.
Photographs of the Music Room at Pitfour dating from around the time of the death of the 14th Baronet in 1895 show a variety of Victorian and earlier furniture, including the present lot, already reduced in size and supporting a hard stone-mounted cabinet.