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Lot Essay
The date of this table combined with its strongly Grecian outline and Francophile decoration suggest that it was an early purchase by Charles Vane 3rd Marquess of Londonderry for his country house, Wynyard Park, County Durham, which he rebuilt with bold Grecian exterior and a mixture of Grecian and ‘Louis Quatorze’ interiors, following his inheritance of the Londonderry Marquessate in 1822. The house, his wife Frances Anne Vane Tempest’s ancestral home, was reconstructed on a monumental scale with the structure being completed in 1830 to the designs of architect Philip Wyatt (d.1835). Wyatt drew heavily on his brother’s (Benjamin Dean Wyatt) abandoned designs for the Waterloo Palace, with the extant north front of Wynyard being almost identical to one elevation of the palace (D. Linstrum, Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects – The Wyatt Family, Farnborough, 1973, fig. 118). Wynyard was gutted by fire circa 1841, the fire began at the West end of the house and it is thought that this allowed time for much of the furniture and many of the works of art to be saved from the ground floor before the fire spread, and it is almost certain that this table was one such piece.
The design of this magnificent centre table is derived from Thomas Hope’s (d. 1831) design for a ‘monopodium or table’ which he published in 1807 in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (pl. xxxix) and which was inspired by the work of his friend Charles Percier, whose architectural work was popularised by his Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, of 1801. This table’s rich design retains many of the details evident in Hope’s original design, most notably the outline of the pedestal with its lotus carved border and the shaping of the feet, that latter, perhaps, being more evident in the surviving executed examples of his design than the design itself.
This table has been embellished with fine brass inlay following the court fashion for ‘buhl’ marquetry as promoted by the émigré Parisian marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre and the court architect Henry Holland under the patronage of the Prince of Wales for the interiors of Carlton House. The court fashion for ‘Louis Quatorze buhl’ marquetry reached its zenith during the final incarnation of the interiors of Carleton House under the direction of John Nash, with ornate antiquarian furniture supplied by makers such as Thomas Parker (fl. 1805-30) and Louis Le Gaigneur (fl. c. 1815).
The accounts for the rebuilding of Wynyard Park, covering the years 1820-1840 show that it cost a staggering £102,097.12s. with an additional £27,320.19s.2d. being expended on furniture. The accounts also detail names of the many furniture makers who contributed, most notable amongst their number are those of Gillow, Dowbiggin, Miles & Edwards and Morant. The strongest candidate for the authorship of this impressive table among these distinguished makers is, perhaps, George Morant (fl. 1790-1839), who’s other notable commissions included work at Bridgewater House and Stafford House, London. A closely related and equally magnificent centre table stamped ‘G.I. Morant, 91 New Bond Street’ was advertised for sale by Stair and Company at the Grosvenor House Fair, 14-20 June 2000 (illustrated in their advertisement). Whilst differently ornamented and of slightly later date, the Stair table
had much in common with this table and was clearly a further evolution of Hope’s original design. George Morant and Sons ‘upholsters’ are recorded in the Londonderry accounts as having supplied furniture for Wynyard Park totalling the sum of £114. Whilst for a relatively small sum, their appearance in the accounts proves a link between the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and the distinguished London cabinet makers and decorators, further supporting an attribution to the firm.
The design of this magnificent centre table is derived from Thomas Hope’s (d. 1831) design for a ‘monopodium or table’ which he published in 1807 in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (pl. xxxix) and which was inspired by the work of his friend Charles Percier, whose architectural work was popularised by his Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, of 1801. This table’s rich design retains many of the details evident in Hope’s original design, most notably the outline of the pedestal with its lotus carved border and the shaping of the feet, that latter, perhaps, being more evident in the surviving executed examples of his design than the design itself.
This table has been embellished with fine brass inlay following the court fashion for ‘buhl’ marquetry as promoted by the émigré Parisian marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre and the court architect Henry Holland under the patronage of the Prince of Wales for the interiors of Carlton House. The court fashion for ‘Louis Quatorze buhl’ marquetry reached its zenith during the final incarnation of the interiors of Carleton House under the direction of John Nash, with ornate antiquarian furniture supplied by makers such as Thomas Parker (fl. 1805-30) and Louis Le Gaigneur (fl. c. 1815).
The accounts for the rebuilding of Wynyard Park, covering the years 1820-1840 show that it cost a staggering £102,097.12s. with an additional £27,320.19s.2d. being expended on furniture. The accounts also detail names of the many furniture makers who contributed, most notable amongst their number are those of Gillow, Dowbiggin, Miles & Edwards and Morant. The strongest candidate for the authorship of this impressive table among these distinguished makers is, perhaps, George Morant (fl. 1790-1839), who’s other notable commissions included work at Bridgewater House and Stafford House, London. A closely related and equally magnificent centre table stamped ‘G.I. Morant, 91 New Bond Street’ was advertised for sale by Stair and Company at the Grosvenor House Fair, 14-20 June 2000 (illustrated in their advertisement). Whilst differently ornamented and of slightly later date, the Stair table
had much in common with this table and was clearly a further evolution of Hope’s original design. George Morant and Sons ‘upholsters’ are recorded in the Londonderry accounts as having supplied furniture for Wynyard Park totalling the sum of £114. Whilst for a relatively small sum, their appearance in the accounts proves a link between the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and the distinguished London cabinet makers and decorators, further supporting an attribution to the firm.