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Lot Essay
The suggestion that this sofa came from Broome Park, Kent, is a plausible one. The interiors of the 17th century house were extensively remodelled, and furnished, by James Wyatt (d. 1813) for Sir Henry Oxenden, 6th Bt. (d. 1803) in 1778. This sofa is entirely in keeping with furniture Wyatt designed, and displays the distinctive oval patera which he often employed. His designs, and those of the contemporary cabinet maker George Hepplewhite (d. 1786), are closely allied, with the latter's posthumously published in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide of 1788, including several Wyatt designs (J.M. Robinson, James Wyatt, Architect to George III, new Haven and London, pp. 126 & 326.).
When Kitchener bought Broome in 1911, it retained much of Wyatts work and whilst this sofa is not amongst the more French-inspired furnishings photographed in the drawing room around that time, it is entirely possible that it could have been acquired with the house and subsequently sold following Kitchener's death in 1916.
When Kitchener bought Broome in 1911, it retained much of Wyatts work and whilst this sofa is not amongst the more French-inspired furnishings photographed in the drawing room around that time, it is entirely possible that it could have been acquired with the house and subsequently sold following Kitchener's death in 1916.