Lot Essay
LANGFORD GROVE AND THRUMPTON HALL
The histories of Langford Grove in Essex and Thrumpton Hall in Nottinghamshire were inextricably linked until the demolition of Langford in 1952. In the late 18th Century the estates were owned by two brothers Nicholas Wescomb (Langford) and John Emerton Wescomb Emerton (Thrumpton) and it is almost certain that the commodes were acquired for one or other house. The evidence points towards their being acquired for Langford Grove rather than Thrumpton Hall, although they have been in the latter house since at least 1916.
The strongest evidence that these commodes were originally from Langford Grove is their inclusion in the 1916 Thrumpton inventory but their exclusion from a list of Thrumpton heirlooms listed in a July 1918 letter from his solicitor to the then owner, the 10th Lord Byron. This letter lists pieces to be considered as belonging specifically to Thrumpton and these commodes are not on it. The solicitor's list is also some evidence for their having been moved from Langford to Thrumpton not very long before the 1916 inventory, since the commodes would presumably have become Thrumpton heirlooms if they had been in that house for several decades. In 1912, the owner of Thrumpton, Lucy Byron, née Wescomb, died and it was between then and 1916 that her nephew and heir, the 10th Lord Byron, came to live at Thrumpton, by then having inherited both houses, and probably bought furniture with him from Langford.
Further evidence that point towards a Langford provenance is provided by what comprises the largest part of the Wescomb family papers (Nottinghamshire Record Office), a group of 144 letters between Nicholas Wescomb of Langford Grove and his brother, John Emerton Wescomb Emerton (1745-1823) of Thrumpton Hall. Most of these letters are simply interesting as a record of the rather lonely life of a Nottinghamshire squire, but John does write about alterations he made to Thrumpton and a set of chairs that he commissioned. If he had bought the commodes, John would have mentioned the fact in one of his letters to his brother, if the relevant letter survives. However, such a purchase is not mentioned, although in a letter from London to his brother in Essex, dated 3 March 1792, John describes two auctions that are being staged at that time (those of the Marquis de Lauzerne (sic), and Captain Dunbar, 'going to India'). The Marquis de Luzerne was a French emigré and former Ambassador. He was a famous silver collector and the Wescomb letter in fact goes into considerable detail about the silver in the auction, suggesting that Nicholas Wescomb was thinking of buying that as well as furniture.
John Wescomb Emerton, the owner of Thrumpton, is clearly helping his brother in a search for furniture, and he adds the comment that 'I wish I knew what you want, besides a sofa. I will endeavour to get catalogues, and if I have time extract some of the principal articles'. It is clear that his brother, who had built Langford ten years earlier, was still buying furniture for it in the 1790s and was considering buying second hand furniture at auction. As these commodes are likely to date from circa 1770, before the building of Langford, they were probably bought rather than commissioned. The major building works at Thrumpton Hall occurred much later, in the 19th Century, when these commodes would have been very unfashionable.
As argued above, the most likely time for the commodes to have moved from Langford to Thrumpton is after 1912 (when the estates were united) but before 1916 when they appear in an inventory at the latter house.
MAYHEW AND INCE
These commodes display many of the features that have been identified as characteristic of the Golden Square firm of Mayhew and Ince (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 589-593). Prime among these is the use of yew-wood as a large scale veneer, 'the only wholly idiosyncratic veneer wood the firm used and possibly unique to Mayhew and Ince among London cabinet-makers of this date' (ibid., p. 593). They supplied a veneered yew-wood commode to Sir Brook Bridges of Goodnestone Park, Kent, that was exhibited in Treasures from Kent Houses, Royal Museum, Canterbury, September - October 1984, no. 57. The firm also supplied a commode, almost identical to that from Goodnestone, to the antiquarian James West for Alscot Park, Warwickshire, in 1766 at a cost of £12 12s. The use of a simple ebonised moulded border on the edge of the top is another feature that is possibly unique to the firm and was used on the fustic commode made by them which was sold from Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, in these Rooms, 6 July 1989, lot 147.
THE ANGLE-MOUNTS
There is a group of yew-wood and marquetry commodes attributed to Mayhew and Ince that share the distinctive angle-mounts of these commodes. Among these is a very similar commode formerly in the Moller Collection that is illustrated in R.W. Symonds, Furniture Making in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century England, London, 1955, fig. 166. Others are a pair of smaller commodes sold from the collection of Mrs. Derek Fitzgerald, Sotheby's London, 5 July 1963, lot 156 and another pair sold by Thomas Ernest Inman, Esq., in these Rooms, 29 November 1979, lot 102.
In France, this angle-mount was much used by Joseph Baumhauer (maître circa 1749), for example on a bureau plat illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 454. In England its use by other makers included the pair of commodes from Blaise Castle, Bristol, which were sold from the Messer Collection, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991, lot 117. It was also used on a pair of marquetry commodes, probably made by a German immigrant in England, and sold from the collection of the late Sir Michael Sobell, in these Rooms, 23 June 1994, lot 169. The most glamorous use of the model is on a pair of commodes that was supplied under the direction of James Cullen for the State Apartment at Hopetoun House, Edinburgh (see: A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 416).
The histories of Langford Grove in Essex and Thrumpton Hall in Nottinghamshire were inextricably linked until the demolition of Langford in 1952. In the late 18th Century the estates were owned by two brothers Nicholas Wescomb (Langford) and John Emerton Wescomb Emerton (Thrumpton) and it is almost certain that the commodes were acquired for one or other house. The evidence points towards their being acquired for Langford Grove rather than Thrumpton Hall, although they have been in the latter house since at least 1916.
The strongest evidence that these commodes were originally from Langford Grove is their inclusion in the 1916 Thrumpton inventory but their exclusion from a list of Thrumpton heirlooms listed in a July 1918 letter from his solicitor to the then owner, the 10th Lord Byron. This letter lists pieces to be considered as belonging specifically to Thrumpton and these commodes are not on it. The solicitor's list is also some evidence for their having been moved from Langford to Thrumpton not very long before the 1916 inventory, since the commodes would presumably have become Thrumpton heirlooms if they had been in that house for several decades. In 1912, the owner of Thrumpton, Lucy Byron, née Wescomb, died and it was between then and 1916 that her nephew and heir, the 10th Lord Byron, came to live at Thrumpton, by then having inherited both houses, and probably bought furniture with him from Langford.
Further evidence that point towards a Langford provenance is provided by what comprises the largest part of the Wescomb family papers (Nottinghamshire Record Office), a group of 144 letters between Nicholas Wescomb of Langford Grove and his brother, John Emerton Wescomb Emerton (1745-1823) of Thrumpton Hall. Most of these letters are simply interesting as a record of the rather lonely life of a Nottinghamshire squire, but John does write about alterations he made to Thrumpton and a set of chairs that he commissioned. If he had bought the commodes, John would have mentioned the fact in one of his letters to his brother, if the relevant letter survives. However, such a purchase is not mentioned, although in a letter from London to his brother in Essex, dated 3 March 1792, John describes two auctions that are being staged at that time (those of the Marquis de Lauzerne (sic), and Captain Dunbar, 'going to India'). The Marquis de Luzerne was a French emigré and former Ambassador. He was a famous silver collector and the Wescomb letter in fact goes into considerable detail about the silver in the auction, suggesting that Nicholas Wescomb was thinking of buying that as well as furniture.
John Wescomb Emerton, the owner of Thrumpton, is clearly helping his brother in a search for furniture, and he adds the comment that 'I wish I knew what you want, besides a sofa. I will endeavour to get catalogues, and if I have time extract some of the principal articles'. It is clear that his brother, who had built Langford ten years earlier, was still buying furniture for it in the 1790s and was considering buying second hand furniture at auction. As these commodes are likely to date from circa 1770, before the building of Langford, they were probably bought rather than commissioned. The major building works at Thrumpton Hall occurred much later, in the 19th Century, when these commodes would have been very unfashionable.
As argued above, the most likely time for the commodes to have moved from Langford to Thrumpton is after 1912 (when the estates were united) but before 1916 when they appear in an inventory at the latter house.
MAYHEW AND INCE
These commodes display many of the features that have been identified as characteristic of the Golden Square firm of Mayhew and Ince (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 589-593). Prime among these is the use of yew-wood as a large scale veneer, 'the only wholly idiosyncratic veneer wood the firm used and possibly unique to Mayhew and Ince among London cabinet-makers of this date' (ibid., p. 593). They supplied a veneered yew-wood commode to Sir Brook Bridges of Goodnestone Park, Kent, that was exhibited in Treasures from Kent Houses, Royal Museum, Canterbury, September - October 1984, no. 57. The firm also supplied a commode, almost identical to that from Goodnestone, to the antiquarian James West for Alscot Park, Warwickshire, in 1766 at a cost of £12 12s. The use of a simple ebonised moulded border on the edge of the top is another feature that is possibly unique to the firm and was used on the fustic commode made by them which was sold from Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, in these Rooms, 6 July 1989, lot 147.
THE ANGLE-MOUNTS
There is a group of yew-wood and marquetry commodes attributed to Mayhew and Ince that share the distinctive angle-mounts of these commodes. Among these is a very similar commode formerly in the Moller Collection that is illustrated in R.W. Symonds, Furniture Making in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century England, London, 1955, fig. 166. Others are a pair of smaller commodes sold from the collection of Mrs. Derek Fitzgerald, Sotheby's London, 5 July 1963, lot 156 and another pair sold by Thomas Ernest Inman, Esq., in these Rooms, 29 November 1979, lot 102.
In France, this angle-mount was much used by Joseph Baumhauer (maître circa 1749), for example on a bureau plat illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 454. In England its use by other makers included the pair of commodes from Blaise Castle, Bristol, which were sold from the Messer Collection, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991, lot 117. It was also used on a pair of marquetry commodes, probably made by a German immigrant in England, and sold from the collection of the late Sir Michael Sobell, in these Rooms, 23 June 1994, lot 169. The most glamorous use of the model is on a pair of commodes that was supplied under the direction of James Cullen for the State Apartment at Hopetoun House, Edinburgh (see: A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 416).