Lot Essay
These caned French-fashioned bergeres with ancient-green bronzed Japanning and gilt enrichments, have lionness-monopodiae in the Roman style promoted by Holland's protegé, the architect Charles Heathcote Tatham in his Etchings of Ancient and Ornamental Architecture, 1799. They correspond directly to George Smith's design for 'Drawing Room Chairs' in his Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration,1808, pl. 56, save for the refinements of the starred seat-rail, which appears on another armchair design on the same plate. Smith's designs were, however, first printed in December 1804, the very year that the connoisseur Thomas Hope opened the doors of his Duchess Street Mansion/Musuem to the public, later popularised in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, to the public and it is highly probable that Smith's design is directly derivative of Hope's ornament.
Hope's 'Breakfast Parlour' at Duchess Street focused around John Flaxman's statue of the Dawn-goddess Aurora and featured her starred-diadem in its night-black and sun-gold decoration, combined with Grecian ormament from 'Etruscan' vases and furniture with lion-monopediae. Likewise, these chairs have Grecian tablet rails embellished with Athena's Medusa-masks derived from Etruscan vases, rails wreathed by Aurora's stars, swagged aprons displaying the Egyptian 'Ba' emblematic of Eternity and lioness arm-terminals that recall the celebrated antiquities from the Pantheon engraved by C. H. Tatham in his Etchings. The lioness form of this chair is, however, ultimately inspired by Antique prototypes, such as the Egyptian chair reproduced in Baron Vivant-Denon's Voyages dans la basse et la Haute Egypte, 1802 and the type of Greek theatrical seat interpreted by James 'Atheniae' Stuart for the Painted Room suite at Spencer House. The unusual feature of the double-caned side panels is, contrastingly, entirely novel and is reminiscent of 'curricle' chairs being manufactured by Gillows at this time.
Two from a suite of ten, these bergeres were almost certainly commissioned by the 'very wealthy merchant and manufacturer' Philip John Miles (d. 1845), probably for his London House. The member of Parliament for Bristol, Miles engaged the antiquarian architect Thomas Hopper circa 1814 to design a Grecian Ionic house at Leigh Court, which he furnished with a remarkable picture collection and both 'fashionable' Regency furniture and the best examples of 18th Century giltwood furniture (cf. a pair of George I giltwood chairs sold anonymously in these Rooms, 19th November 1992, lot 59). This suite is consequently recorded in The Tapestry Room at Forde Abbey, Dorset which was acquired by John William Miles in 1846.
A bergere from this suite, now at Brighton Pavilion (purchased 1971) was exhibited in The Treasures Houses of Britain, National Gallery, Washington, D.C., October 1985 - April 1986, no. 526. Another, formerly in the collection of Edward T. Knoblock to Edward T. Knoblock, one of the pioneer's of the Regency revival is in the Victoria & Albert Museum (W.14-1945)
Hope's 'Breakfast Parlour' at Duchess Street focused around John Flaxman's statue of the Dawn-goddess Aurora and featured her starred-diadem in its night-black and sun-gold decoration, combined with Grecian ormament from 'Etruscan' vases and furniture with lion-monopediae. Likewise, these chairs have Grecian tablet rails embellished with Athena's Medusa-masks derived from Etruscan vases, rails wreathed by Aurora's stars, swagged aprons displaying the Egyptian 'Ba' emblematic of Eternity and lioness arm-terminals that recall the celebrated antiquities from the Pantheon engraved by C. H. Tatham in his Etchings. The lioness form of this chair is, however, ultimately inspired by Antique prototypes, such as the Egyptian chair reproduced in Baron Vivant-Denon's Voyages dans la basse et la Haute Egypte, 1802 and the type of Greek theatrical seat interpreted by James 'Atheniae' Stuart for the Painted Room suite at Spencer House. The unusual feature of the double-caned side panels is, contrastingly, entirely novel and is reminiscent of 'curricle' chairs being manufactured by Gillows at this time.
Two from a suite of ten, these bergeres were almost certainly commissioned by the 'very wealthy merchant and manufacturer' Philip John Miles (d. 1845), probably for his London House. The member of Parliament for Bristol, Miles engaged the antiquarian architect Thomas Hopper circa 1814 to design a Grecian Ionic house at Leigh Court, which he furnished with a remarkable picture collection and both 'fashionable' Regency furniture and the best examples of 18th Century giltwood furniture (cf. a pair of George I giltwood chairs sold anonymously in these Rooms, 19th November 1992, lot 59). This suite is consequently recorded in The Tapestry Room at Forde Abbey, Dorset which was acquired by John William Miles in 1846.
A bergere from this suite, now at Brighton Pavilion (purchased 1971) was exhibited in The Treasures Houses of Britain, National Gallery, Washington, D.C., October 1985 - April 1986, no. 526. Another, formerly in the collection of Edward T. Knoblock to Edward T. Knoblock, one of the pioneer's of the Regency revival is in the Victoria & Albert Museum (W.14-1945)