A PAIR OF GEORGE IV GILTWOOD AND GILT-COMPOSITION POLE SCREENS

Details

A PAIR OF GEORGE IV GILTWOOD AND GILT-COMPOSITION POLE SCREENS
Each with a square glazed panel, one with 17th Century needlework of flowers and animals surrounding a central oval with a man playing a cello, the other with green silk-damask applied with a central oval of a saint in a foliate border, the panels with C-scroll and laurel-leaf border, the poles with coronet finial, on cherub and animal-carved bases supported by four seated lions, on a circular platform with egg-and-dart and gadrooned edge, on brass claw and ball feet with sunk castors, losses to the applied decoration
58 in. (147.5 cm.) high; each screen: 34 in. (86.5 cm.) square (2)

Provenance

Almost certainly Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851), Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire and by descent to
William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton (1851-1913), Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire.

Literature

C. Latham, In English Homes, London, 1904, p. 141 (shown in situ in the Long Gallery at Castle Ashby).

Lot Essay

Sir Henry Compton, created Baron Compton in 1572, grandson of the gallant courtier to Henry VIII, Sir William Compton, built Castle Ashby over an ancient 'crenellated' house. His son, William, was created Earl Northampton in 1618. The castle was later altered and embellished by the architect Inigo Jones (d. 1652), when it is said that he connected two wings to create a quadrangle with the Long Gallery above. Castle Ashby has been remodelled serveral times by various generations of the Compton family, whose home it remains to this day.

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