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Lot Essay
Tottenham Park, set in the ancient hunting forest of Savernake, the hereditary home of the Bruce family since the Norman Conquest, was designed by Lord Burlington in 1721 after the marriage of his sister, Lady Juliana, to Charles, Viscount Bruce. This was his first major work and one of his most important contributions to British architecture. This painting is one of three views of the house executed by Rysbrack, the earliest of which pre-dates Burlington's project. Here he depicts the house from the rear, detailing the Inigo Jones inspired portico.
The present frame relates to designs by William Kent. Kent’s association with Tottenham Park is described in Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, Yale, 2014. Extant correspondence between Kent and Lady Juliana, wife of Charles, Lord Bruce reveal that the family were on familiar terms with the famed architect and designer (Webber, op. cit., p. 38). Surviving examples of Kent’s work for Tottenham Park include a set of wall brackets at the Victoria and Albert Museum (W.1-1988). Twenty-one chairs and two settees probably designed by William Kent for Tottenham Park are currently divided between the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Lady Lever Collection, Temple Newsam, Leeds and other collections. Interestingly, the 1744 inventory of Tottenham Park records gilt frames for twenty half-length portraits and one full-length portrait (Weber, op cit., p. 190). While a frame for a view of Tottenham Park is not recorded, it appears that the present frame may have been adapted. Perhaps it was one of those recorded in the inventory for a portrait.
The present frame relates to designs by William Kent. Kent’s association with Tottenham Park is described in Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, Yale, 2014. Extant correspondence between Kent and Lady Juliana, wife of Charles, Lord Bruce reveal that the family were on familiar terms with the famed architect and designer (Webber, op. cit., p. 38). Surviving examples of Kent’s work for Tottenham Park include a set of wall brackets at the Victoria and Albert Museum (W.1-1988). Twenty-one chairs and two settees probably designed by William Kent for Tottenham Park are currently divided between the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Lady Lever Collection, Temple Newsam, Leeds and other collections. Interestingly, the 1744 inventory of Tottenham Park records gilt frames for twenty half-length portraits and one full-length portrait (Weber, op cit., p. 190). While a frame for a view of Tottenham Park is not recorded, it appears that the present frame may have been adapted. Perhaps it was one of those recorded in the inventory for a portrait.