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Lot Essay
Brice Péridiez, maître before 1738.
This impressive bureau plat reflects the taste for the furniture of the ancien régime among sophisticated English collectors at the beginning of the 19th century. It was acquired, along with other fine examples of 18th century ébènisterie, by Arthur Hill-Trevor, 2nd Viscount Dungannon (1763 - 1837) of Brynkinalt, North Wales. By family tradition, this group of furniture came to Brynkinalt as a gift from the Duke of Wellington, Lord Dungannon's near contemporary and first cousin. The links between the cousins were longstanding, since, following the death of the Duke's father Lord Mornington in 1781, the widowed and impoverished Lady Mornington spent much time with her mother and sister-in-law in Wales, taking her son, the future Duke, with her (E. Longford, Wellington: The Years of the Sword, London, 1969, p. 15).
The furniture sold at Christie's from Brynkinalt in 1983 included notable examples of Boulle furniture, offering a clear parallel with the Duke of Wellington's well-documented predilection for Boulle (F.J.B. Watson, 'The Great Duke's taste for French Furniture', Apollo, July 1975, pp. 44 - 9). However, it is also fascinating to note that one of these examples, a pair of Boulle pedestals, was sold at the celebrated sale of the Duke of York's collection at Christie's in 1827, and purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, indicating that Lord Dungannon acquired them from this well-known dealer, whose clients included many of the great collectors of the period, including the Duke of Buccleuch and the Earl of Pembroke.
This impressive bureau plat reflects the taste for the furniture of the ancien régime among sophisticated English collectors at the beginning of the 19th century. It was acquired, along with other fine examples of 18th century ébènisterie, by Arthur Hill-Trevor, 2nd Viscount Dungannon (1763 - 1837) of Brynkinalt, North Wales. By family tradition, this group of furniture came to Brynkinalt as a gift from the Duke of Wellington, Lord Dungannon's near contemporary and first cousin. The links between the cousins were longstanding, since, following the death of the Duke's father Lord Mornington in 1781, the widowed and impoverished Lady Mornington spent much time with her mother and sister-in-law in Wales, taking her son, the future Duke, with her (E. Longford, Wellington: The Years of the Sword, London, 1969, p. 15).
The furniture sold at Christie's from Brynkinalt in 1983 included notable examples of Boulle furniture, offering a clear parallel with the Duke of Wellington's well-documented predilection for Boulle (F.J.B. Watson, 'The Great Duke's taste for French Furniture', Apollo, July 1975, pp. 44 - 9). However, it is also fascinating to note that one of these examples, a pair of Boulle pedestals, was sold at the celebrated sale of the Duke of York's collection at Christie's in 1827, and purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, indicating that Lord Dungannon acquired them from this well-known dealer, whose clients included many of the great collectors of the period, including the Duke of Buccleuch and the Earl of Pembroke.