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Lot Essay
These distinctive architectural pedestals are closely related to the designs of the famed architect-designer and arbiter of 'Roman' taste, William Kent (1685-1748). Their bold scrolling design is a signature feature of his known oeuvre. These pedestal brackets bear particularly strong comparison elements central to the design of the Stone Hall at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, which was completed by Kent between 1726 and 1735 for Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (second creation) (1676-1745), who as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, is regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Specifically worthy of reference are the oversized wall-mounted bust brackets and also the profile scrolls which are employed (albeit inverted) to the sides of the chimney piece. Kent's design for the latter is held in the British Architectural Library, RIBA, and is illustrated in ed. S. Weber, William Kent, Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven and London, 2013, fig 21.8, p. 596.
Such brackets were central to a Kent interior and 'when busts were placed upon them they accentuated the classicism of his designs' (ibid, p. 508). Kent would undoubtedly have seen such architectural devices in the Roman palace interiors he visited during his extensive Italian sojourn. A Kent design for a wall bracket for the display of a bust, circa 1730-1735, is in The Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.373-1986), and another similar design was featured in John Vardy’s Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. Wm. Kent (1744), plate 20. Kent designed twelve giltwood wall brackets for the Dome Room at Chiswick House, and probably another set of twelve for the Library at Chiswick (Weber, op. cit., p. 509, fig. 18.57). Carved, painted and parcel-gilt 'console wall brackets' were designed for Tottenham House, circa 1729-31, two of which are now in The Victoria & Albert Museum, (ibid., fig. 18.56; museum nos. W.1-1988, W.1A-1988); these are particularly worthy of comparison as there are many parallels, notably the divided bands of stiff-leaf carving to the front flanking a central line, in this case of husks, to those brackets bead-and-reel has been employed.
A related pair of wall brackets designed and supplied by William Kent for Lieutenant-General James Dormer (1679-1741) circa 1740 for Rousham Park, Oxfordshire, executed in mahogany, were sold from the collection of Jasper Conran, Christie's, London, 14 September 2021, lot 27 (£87,500) a further pair of related bust-pedestals, or torchières, of slighter design, possibly designed by William Kent and almost certainly supplied by Benjamin Goodison (circa 1700-1767) to Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (1694-1761) for Longford Castle, Wiltshire, between 1737 and 1743, were sold from The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 26 September 2017, lot 110; $100,000).
Such brackets were central to a Kent interior and 'when busts were placed upon them they accentuated the classicism of his designs' (ibid, p. 508). Kent would undoubtedly have seen such architectural devices in the Roman palace interiors he visited during his extensive Italian sojourn. A Kent design for a wall bracket for the display of a bust, circa 1730-1735, is in The Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.373-1986), and another similar design was featured in John Vardy’s Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. Wm. Kent (1744), plate 20. Kent designed twelve giltwood wall brackets for the Dome Room at Chiswick House, and probably another set of twelve for the Library at Chiswick (Weber, op. cit., p. 509, fig. 18.57). Carved, painted and parcel-gilt 'console wall brackets' were designed for Tottenham House, circa 1729-31, two of which are now in The Victoria & Albert Museum, (ibid., fig. 18.56; museum nos. W.1-1988, W.1A-1988); these are particularly worthy of comparison as there are many parallels, notably the divided bands of stiff-leaf carving to the front flanking a central line, in this case of husks, to those brackets bead-and-reel has been employed.
A related pair of wall brackets designed and supplied by William Kent for Lieutenant-General James Dormer (1679-1741) circa 1740 for Rousham Park, Oxfordshire, executed in mahogany, were sold from the collection of Jasper Conran, Christie's, London, 14 September 2021, lot 27 (£87,500) a further pair of related bust-pedestals, or torchières, of slighter design, possibly designed by William Kent and almost certainly supplied by Benjamin Goodison (circa 1700-1767) to Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (1694-1761) for Longford Castle, Wiltshire, between 1737 and 1743, were sold from The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 26 September 2017, lot 110; $100,000).