ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN VARDY, CIRCA 1760-65

These superbly carved giltwood console tables are attributed to the Palladian architect, John Vardy (1717/18-1765), a disciple of William Kent (circa 1685-1748), renowned for his theatrical interpretation of the Palm Room and furniture en suite at Spencer House, London, designed for the Hon. John Spencer, later 1st Earl Spencer, in circa 1757.
The double scallop shell motif on the frieze of these tables is typically associated with Vardy, who frequently used this device in his designs, for example, the state bed at St. James’s Palace, 1749; an overmantel mirror/picture frame for Lady Milton’s Dressing Room, 1761, and a wall bracket for Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton’s (circa 1718-65) house at 37 Grosvenor Square, London, 1761 (P. Ward-Jackson, English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1984, fig. 44, 40; RIBA SD41/4 (1)). Carved giltwood brackets modeled on the latter design were at Hackwood Park, Hampshire, the country seat of the Dukes of Bolton, in 1913, when photographed by Country Life. The present tables are very closely related to a giltwood mirror, probably designed by Vardy, and supplied to the 5th Duke for Hackwood, possibly for ‘His Grace’s Bedchamber’, in 1765 (sold ‘Hackwood’, Christie’s house sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 42). Hackwood was substantially rebuilt in the early 1760s to the designs of Vardy, and the 5th Duke appears to have been a loyal patron of the architect-designer with designs for Hackwood and Grosvenor Square dating from 1761. The origins of the husk-festooned frame as featured on these console tables, and the Hackwood mirror, can be traced to the frontispiece of Vardy’s Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. Wm. Kent, 1744.
Vardy was undoubtedly inspired by Kent; the double scallop shell motif is featured on a chandelier designed by Kent for George II, plate 23 in Vardy’s Some Designs. It can also be found on a suite of seat-furniture for the Red Saloon at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, circa 1730, on the headboard of the state bed in the Green Velvet Bedchamber, circa 1732, and on a carved giltwood side table, circa 1730, all designed by Kent for Houghton (ed. S. Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven and London, 2014, p. 472, fig. 18.3, p. 464, fig. 17.26; R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. 3, Woodbridge, revised edition, 1954, p. 285, fig. 35).
While no exact design for these tables has been found, they are related to Vardy’s design for a pier table with pier glass en suite for Hackwood, 1745 (RIBA SD41/8 (G4/8); a pair of pier tables with the double scallop shell on the frieze, and matching pier glasses of this model with provenance from Hackwood sold Christie’s, London, 8 July 1999, lot 54 and 55.
It is possible that these console tables were executed by Vardy’s younger brother, Thomas (1751-88), a carver of some repute, who had learnt his trade when apprenticed to James Richards, the King’s Master Carver. Thomas was admitted to the Livery of the Joiner’s Company, and was Master of the Company in 1788. As he ran a substantial workshop with a number of apprentices including his brother’s two sons, it seems reasonable to surmise that he might have executed carving and joinery to his brother’s designs.

The Label
The trade label relates to Charles William Broad, carver and gilder, who was at 6 Bench Street, Dover, between 1824 and 1839 (C. Gilbert, G. Beard, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, 1986, p. 109). William Ashlin traded from 6 Bolton Street, Long Acre from 1789, and after 1796, also from 68 Strand when the firm was styled Ashlin & Collins (ibid., pp. 20-21). Broad evidently trained with Ashlin & Collins, but was only responsible for the re-gilding of these tables and not their manufacture.