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Lot Essay
These richly carved, generously proportioned fauteuils la reine relate closely to a fauteuil in the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs, Paris. The gift of Rodolphe Kahn in 1888, this latter fauteuil features the same acanthus-wrapped, reeded frame and distinctive inscrolled toes (illustrated in B.G.B Pallot, L'Art du Sige au XVIIIe Sicle, Paris, 1987, p. 110). Such sinuous, flowing frames enriched with rocaille and cabochons and with similarly inscrolled toes also feature on a design by the ornemaniste Nicolas Pineau, which is now in the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs, Paris (Pallot, op. cit., p.121).
Another pair of fauteuils from the same suite is in the Cincinnati Museum of Art, illustrated in K.R. Trapp, 'Four French Period Rooms in the Cincinnati Art Museum', The Decorative Arts Society Newsletter, March 1982, p. 3, fig. 3. These and the Alexander fauteuils came from the celebrated English Palladian house, Ditchley Park, and were probably acquired by the Anglo-American collector Ronald Tree, who had purchased Ditchley along with much of its contents from the 18th Viscount Dillon in 1934. Ditchley was largely built by George Lee, the 2nd Earl of Litchfield, between 1720 and his death in 1743. The original plans were supplied by the architect James Gibbs, while the interiors were designed by William Kent and Henry Flitcroft, with furniture supplied by William Bradshaw and chimneypieces by John Cheere, making it one of the most important and comprehensive commissions of the Palladian period.
Ronald Tree was an American raised and educated in England whose first wife (whom he married in 1920), Nancy Langhorne, was later to partner John Fowler in the celebrated firm of Colefax and Fowler and was one of the great taste-makers of her age. After the Trees acquired Ditchley, they set about refurbishing its interiors, adding old fabrics and furniture acquired on buying trips in Europe and throughout England, displaying a remarkable sensitivity to Ditchley's original scheme while not remaining slavishly historical. The result was one of the most talked about interiors of the time which had a tremendous impact on country house design. Ronald married his second wife Marietta in 1946, but was forced to sell Ditchley in 1947 to the Earl of Wilton. Marietta Tree's collection from her Sutton Place apartment in New York was sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1992.
Another pair of fauteuils from the same suite is in the Cincinnati Museum of Art, illustrated in K.R. Trapp, 'Four French Period Rooms in the Cincinnati Art Museum', The Decorative Arts Society Newsletter, March 1982, p. 3, fig. 3. These and the Alexander fauteuils came from the celebrated English Palladian house, Ditchley Park, and were probably acquired by the Anglo-American collector Ronald Tree, who had purchased Ditchley along with much of its contents from the 18th Viscount Dillon in 1934. Ditchley was largely built by George Lee, the 2nd Earl of Litchfield, between 1720 and his death in 1743. The original plans were supplied by the architect James Gibbs, while the interiors were designed by William Kent and Henry Flitcroft, with furniture supplied by William Bradshaw and chimneypieces by John Cheere, making it one of the most important and comprehensive commissions of the Palladian period.
Ronald Tree was an American raised and educated in England whose first wife (whom he married in 1920), Nancy Langhorne, was later to partner John Fowler in the celebrated firm of Colefax and Fowler and was one of the great taste-makers of her age. After the Trees acquired Ditchley, they set about refurbishing its interiors, adding old fabrics and furniture acquired on buying trips in Europe and throughout England, displaying a remarkable sensitivity to Ditchley's original scheme while not remaining slavishly historical. The result was one of the most talked about interiors of the time which had a tremendous impact on country house design. Ronald married his second wife Marietta in 1946, but was forced to sell Ditchley in 1947 to the Earl of Wilton. Marietta Tree's collection from her Sutton Place apartment in New York was sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1992.