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Lot Essay
This rare surviving important commission from Thomas Chippendale for Harewood House was in ‘The Lord Harewood’s Bedroom’ according to the 1795 inventory, where it is described as ‘One Bedstead Blue and Gold hung with Blue Damask’. Although the Chippendale bill does not survive, the bed was likely supplied by him between 1769 and 1772 and probably comprises part of items totaling the sum of £3024-19-3, which had already been delivered by the time the 1772 inventory was made.
The furnishing of Harewood House, Yorkshire for Edwin Lascelles, created Lord Harewood in 1790, was undoubtedly Thomas Chippendale’s most valuable commission (the contract exceeding £10,000 through the period 1767-78) and represents the flowering of his mature neoclassical style. Under Lascelles' patronage Chippendale enjoyed an unprecedented freedom, both in the execution and extravagance of his designs, which so effectively complimented the Robert Adam's interiors of the house.
The intricately carved ornament of the bed closely corresponds with other furniture supplied by Chippendale to Harewood and elsewhere in the 1770s. For example: an urn with bellflower swags surmounting a press bed supplied to Garrick's villa at Hampton circa 1775; the frieze of laurel swags draped from flowerheads on the marquetry secretaire supplied to Harewood circa 1772; the satyr masks on the pier glasses supplied for the dining room at Harewood circa 1770; the urn crestings with satyr masks and bellflower swags on the pier glasses at Brocket Hall, supplied circa 1773; the anthemion hung pelmet in the Salon at Nostell Priory supplied circa 1778, also seen on the lambrequin pelmets supplied to Brocket Hall circa 1773. Only a very small number of beds by Chippendale survive, and the most similar example remains at Harewood, exhibiting a related laurel swag frieze, domed canopy, and stiff leaf egg-and-dart capitals.
At the time of Sir Charles Barry's remodeling of the piano nobile at Harewood from 1843-1845, a number of furnishings were dismantled and placed in storage. Because these items, which include this bed, remained untouched for almost a century-and-a-half, they survived in remarkable condition, almost uniquely preserved.
The furnishing of Harewood House, Yorkshire for Edwin Lascelles, created Lord Harewood in 1790, was undoubtedly Thomas Chippendale’s most valuable commission (the contract exceeding £10,000 through the period 1767-78) and represents the flowering of his mature neoclassical style. Under Lascelles' patronage Chippendale enjoyed an unprecedented freedom, both in the execution and extravagance of his designs, which so effectively complimented the Robert Adam's interiors of the house.
The intricately carved ornament of the bed closely corresponds with other furniture supplied by Chippendale to Harewood and elsewhere in the 1770s. For example: an urn with bellflower swags surmounting a press bed supplied to Garrick's villa at Hampton circa 1775; the frieze of laurel swags draped from flowerheads on the marquetry secretaire supplied to Harewood circa 1772; the satyr masks on the pier glasses supplied for the dining room at Harewood circa 1770; the urn crestings with satyr masks and bellflower swags on the pier glasses at Brocket Hall, supplied circa 1773; the anthemion hung pelmet in the Salon at Nostell Priory supplied circa 1778, also seen on the lambrequin pelmets supplied to Brocket Hall circa 1773. Only a very small number of beds by Chippendale survive, and the most similar example remains at Harewood, exhibiting a related laurel swag frieze, domed canopy, and stiff leaf egg-and-dart capitals.
At the time of Sir Charles Barry's remodeling of the piano nobile at Harewood from 1843-1845, a number of furnishings were dismantled and placed in storage. Because these items, which include this bed, remained untouched for almost a century-and-a-half, they survived in remarkable condition, almost uniquely preserved.