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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JEAN M. RIDDELL (LOTS 400-445) AN AVID PATRON AND COLLECTOR: JEAN M. RIDDELL
Collector, patron, artist, scholar. Jean Montgomery Riddell's long and fulfilled life was in great part defined by an active commitment to the arts.
Born in St. Louis and raised in New York, Jean Montgomery graduated from the Spence School and studied under Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League. As the daughter of the U.S. Minister to Hungary (1933-1941), she grew up in a world of culture and sophistication. When she and her husband, Richard J. Riddell, moved to Washington D.C. in 1940, she recognized a need to expand the performing arts in her new home town. Here she became involved with the Washington School of the Ballet where she utilized her artistic talent by painting the scenery for their early productions at Constitution Hall. This interest evolved into her co-founding the Washington Ballet and later, The National Ballet, Washington's first professional ballet company (which closed in 1974). Mrs. Riddell lent further support to the National Symphony Orchestra and The Paul Hill Chorale (later the Master Chorale of Washington).
As a collector, Jean Riddell pursued her areas of interest with similar passion and knowledge. Intimate works on paper by her mentor, Thomas Hart Benton, were complemented by those of seminal American artists John LaFarge and William Trost Richards. Her highly regarded collection of Russian enamels - one of the largest collections in private hands - was bequeathed to the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. A scholar in her own right, she co-authored a catalogue for the 1987 exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Arts ('Old-Russian enamels: nationalism and the decorative arts revival in 19th century Moscow'.)
When it came time to refurbish her Massachusetts Avenue home in the 1970s (now the Embassy of the Bahamas), Mrs. Riddell turned to the brilliant Georgetown furniture dealer, Macy Darling. Far from New York and London, the centers of the English furniture trade, Macy was widely respected for his meticulous eye and love of 17th and 18th century English furniture. The careful selection of objects they chose together demonstrates a true appreciation for the unusual and the exceptional. The serpentine chest with its vividly patterned cocus-wood veneers, the fabulous paw-footed tripod table and the luxurious pietra dura inlaid cabinet are just a few of the unique treasures on offer in the following lots.
Jean Riddell died last fall at the age of 100. Her legacy lives on in the public domain. It is our hope that her personal collection will generate renewed enthusiasm for the rich detail and imaginative forms that characterize the best of English furniture-making.
A QUEEN ANNE NEEDLEWORK PICTURE
EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Details
A QUEEN ANNE NEEDLEWORK PICTURE
EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Depicting two birds in a verdant landscape, within an ebonized frame, the frame possibly original
16¾ in. (42.5 cm.) high, 14½ in. (37 cm.) wide, including frame
EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Depicting two birds in a verdant landscape, within an ebonized frame, the frame possibly original
16¾ in. (42.5 cm.) high, 14½ in. (37 cm.) wide, including frame
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