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Lot Essay
This beautiful vase is almost certainly the work of the Danish-born, London-based bronze worker Diederich Nicolaus Anderson (d. 1767), who was the leading purveyor of objects in gilt-bronze before Matthew Boulton began ormolu production at Soho, Birmingham in 1768. The Getty vase is very closely related to a model of vase candelabrum attributed to Anderson and almost certainly made to designs by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart (1713-1788). The Getty vase forms the central section of the candelabrum model, with identical flower-filled guilloche foot, spirally-fluted socle mounted with flower-cast collar, scrolling honeysuckle mounts to the body and spirally-fluted neck with Vitruvian scrolled rim. Where the Getty vase has satyr masks issuing twin scrolled handles, the candelabrum features instead a pair of scrolling candle-branches terminating in leafy drip-pans and nozzles and includes a further scrolling candle-branch to the top where the Getty vase has a flaming finial.
The candelabrum model survives today in six pairs: a pair supplied to John, 1st Earl Spencer for the chimneypiece of the Painted Room at Spencer House (see fig. 1; sold by the Earl Spencer, The Spencer House Sale, Christie’s, London, 8 July 2010, lot 1003, £217,250 including premium); a pair supplied to George, later 1st Baron Lyttelton at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire, which were negotiated by Christie's to Soho House, Birmingham; a pair supplied to the Marquess of Rockingham at Wentworth Woodhouse; a pair in the Victoria& Albert Museum (M.279-1975); a pair now at Spencer House, having been acquired from Carlton Towers, Yorkshire and originally supplied either for Norfolk House, St. James's Square as suggested by Sir Nicholas Goodison (N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 76 & p. 377, no. 53), or for Thomas Stapleton (d. 1821) for Carlton Hall (now Towers), Selby, Yorkshire which was remodelled in the 1770s by the Yorkshire architect Thomas Atkinson (d. 1798) -Atkinson was employed by the 9th Duke of Norfolk in 1766 to lay out part of his Sheffield estate; and a pair in The Royal Collection (RCIN 985; J.M. Robinson, 'New light from the nursery', Country Life, 28 September 1995, p. 80).
Anderson’s authorship for these candelabra and therefore the Getty vase rests on his association with James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, a relationship which has been discussed by Nicholas Goodison (N. Goodison, ‘Mr Stuart’s Tripod’, Burlington Magazine, October 1972, pp. 73-4). Anderson exhibited ‘a tripod, from an original design of Mr Stuart’ in 1761 (Free Society, 1761, no. 102; cited in Goodison, op. cit., 2002, p. 75 and note 45). Anderson’s signature adorns a plate-warmer at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, which was made in 1760 to a design of 1757 attributed to Stuart, which survives there. Also at Kedleston are a pair of chestnut urns in patinated-pewter and gilt-metal, which are similarly thought to be by Anderson to a Stuart design, and feature the same Vitruvian scroll to the shoulders of the vase section as appears on the rim of the Getty vase.
Of the six pairs of the aforementioned candelabra model that are known, five pairs are linked to collections that were formed in the late 1750s / early 1760s, four of which are connected with Stuart. The Spencer pair was designed for the Painted Room at Spencer House, where from 1758 to 1766 Stuart designed the Principal Rooms of the First Floor for John, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1783) and radically introduced a new style of neoclassicism that saw a direct relationship with Ancient Greece. At Hagley, Stuart built a Greek Doric temple in 1759 for the 1st Lord Lyttelton. Stuart was working at Wentworth Woodhouse for the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham from 1755 onwards. In 1761, Stuart designed a new throne for Queen Charlotte's use at St. James's Palace (V. Percy & G. Jackson-Stops, '"Exquisite taste and tawdry ornament". The Travel Journals of the 1st Duchess of Northumberland - II', Country Life, 7 February 1974, pp. 250-252) and it was noted by Thomas Hollis in his diary entry for 17 September 1761: 'At Mr Anderson's, caster in brass, to see a curious State Chair for the Queen after a design of Mr Stuart's. Met Mr Stuart at Mr Anderson's and was greatly pleased with the chair' (Diary of Thomas Hollis, Ms. Eng 1191, Houghton Library, Harvard University, quoted in S. Weber Soros (ed.), James "Athenian" Stuart: The Rediscovery of Antiquity, New Haven and London, 2006, p. 452). Furthermore, Stuart's authorship has been suggested by John Harris for Queen Charlotte's sedan chair supplied by Samuel Vaughan with ormolu enrichments made by Anderson (J. Roberts, (ed.), George III and Queen Charlotte, London, 2004, pp.268-269, no. 274).
Anderson also executed works of art in ormolu to designs by Robert Adam, including the set of candelabra related to those made to Stuart’s design, which were supplied to Sir Lawrence Dundas for his house on Arlington Street, London (E. Harris, Furniture of Robert Adam, London, 1963, fig. 135). Adam provided designs for the furnishing of Arlington Street and £2.0.0. is noted for the years 1763-66 for a 'design of a Vase candlestick'. These are probably the '6 Brass Girandoles with leather cases' listed in the Front Room in the 1768 inventory of furniture at Arlington Street. A pair of the Dundas candelabra was exhibited at Christie's, London, Treasures of the North, 13 January - 13 February 2000.
The candelabrum model survives today in six pairs: a pair supplied to John, 1st Earl Spencer for the chimneypiece of the Painted Room at Spencer House (see fig. 1; sold by the Earl Spencer, The Spencer House Sale, Christie’s, London, 8 July 2010, lot 1003, £217,250 including premium); a pair supplied to George, later 1st Baron Lyttelton at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire, which were negotiated by Christie's to Soho House, Birmingham; a pair supplied to the Marquess of Rockingham at Wentworth Woodhouse; a pair in the Victoria& Albert Museum (M.279-1975); a pair now at Spencer House, having been acquired from Carlton Towers, Yorkshire and originally supplied either for Norfolk House, St. James's Square as suggested by Sir Nicholas Goodison (N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 76 & p. 377, no. 53), or for Thomas Stapleton (d. 1821) for Carlton Hall (now Towers), Selby, Yorkshire which was remodelled in the 1770s by the Yorkshire architect Thomas Atkinson (d. 1798) -Atkinson was employed by the 9th Duke of Norfolk in 1766 to lay out part of his Sheffield estate; and a pair in The Royal Collection (RCIN 985; J.M. Robinson, 'New light from the nursery', Country Life, 28 September 1995, p. 80).
Anderson’s authorship for these candelabra and therefore the Getty vase rests on his association with James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, a relationship which has been discussed by Nicholas Goodison (N. Goodison, ‘Mr Stuart’s Tripod’, Burlington Magazine, October 1972, pp. 73-4). Anderson exhibited ‘a tripod, from an original design of Mr Stuart’ in 1761 (Free Society, 1761, no. 102; cited in Goodison, op. cit., 2002, p. 75 and note 45). Anderson’s signature adorns a plate-warmer at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, which was made in 1760 to a design of 1757 attributed to Stuart, which survives there. Also at Kedleston are a pair of chestnut urns in patinated-pewter and gilt-metal, which are similarly thought to be by Anderson to a Stuart design, and feature the same Vitruvian scroll to the shoulders of the vase section as appears on the rim of the Getty vase.
Of the six pairs of the aforementioned candelabra model that are known, five pairs are linked to collections that were formed in the late 1750s / early 1760s, four of which are connected with Stuart. The Spencer pair was designed for the Painted Room at Spencer House, where from 1758 to 1766 Stuart designed the Principal Rooms of the First Floor for John, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1783) and radically introduced a new style of neoclassicism that saw a direct relationship with Ancient Greece. At Hagley, Stuart built a Greek Doric temple in 1759 for the 1st Lord Lyttelton. Stuart was working at Wentworth Woodhouse for the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham from 1755 onwards. In 1761, Stuart designed a new throne for Queen Charlotte's use at St. James's Palace (V. Percy & G. Jackson-Stops, '"Exquisite taste and tawdry ornament". The Travel Journals of the 1st Duchess of Northumberland - II', Country Life, 7 February 1974, pp. 250-252) and it was noted by Thomas Hollis in his diary entry for 17 September 1761: 'At Mr Anderson's, caster in brass, to see a curious State Chair for the Queen after a design of Mr Stuart's. Met Mr Stuart at Mr Anderson's and was greatly pleased with the chair' (Diary of Thomas Hollis, Ms. Eng 1191, Houghton Library, Harvard University, quoted in S. Weber Soros (ed.), James "Athenian" Stuart: The Rediscovery of Antiquity, New Haven and London, 2006, p. 452). Furthermore, Stuart's authorship has been suggested by John Harris for Queen Charlotte's sedan chair supplied by Samuel Vaughan with ormolu enrichments made by Anderson (J. Roberts, (ed.), George III and Queen Charlotte, London, 2004, pp.268-269, no. 274).
Anderson also executed works of art in ormolu to designs by Robert Adam, including the set of candelabra related to those made to Stuart’s design, which were supplied to Sir Lawrence Dundas for his house on Arlington Street, London (E. Harris, Furniture of Robert Adam, London, 1963, fig. 135). Adam provided designs for the furnishing of Arlington Street and £2.0.0. is noted for the years 1763-66 for a 'design of a Vase candlestick'. These are probably the '6 Brass Girandoles with leather cases' listed in the Front Room in the 1768 inventory of furniture at Arlington Street. A pair of the Dundas candelabra was exhibited at Christie's, London, Treasures of the North, 13 January - 13 February 2000.