Lot Essay
This bed would have been commissioned for Attingham Park, Shropshire, by Thomas Noel, 2nd Lord Berwick (d.1832) around the time of his marriage in 1812. In the style of a French lit de travers, it relates in character to a pattern for a 'Sofa or French Bed' with canopy and giltmetal ornaments and a 'French sofa' with panelled and columned ends published in Rudolph Ackermann's Repository of Arts in January 1809 and June 1812 (P.Agius, Ackermann's Regency Furniture and Interiors, Marlborough, 1984, pls. 4 and 40).
It is extremely tempting to identify this bed with one that was included in the house sale at Attingham that was held by Mr. Robins on 30 July 1827 and included:
'AN ELEGANT JAPANNED ROSEWOOD AND YELLOW FRAME GRECIAN-SCROLL END FRENCH COUCH BEDSTEAD, with folding canopy tester to slide in the elbows, thick hair squab, and folding back ditto, to form mattress, two round feather bolsters, and two large down pillows, in canvas, and handsome white-ground pink and blue-flowered chintz cotton cases and Furniture, on turned legs and brass casters, 8 feet' £15 15
The present square block feet may be a replacement for 'turned' legs (ie. feet) but the main stumbling block is the material. This bed is rosewood with simulated rosewood feet but the catalogue description is categoric.
Also included in the house sale was Lady Sarah Berwick's rosewood cabinet 'enriched with buhl and tortoiseshell' (lot 115), which can now be attributed to Louis Constantin Le Gaigneur (fl.1814-21), whose London workshops at 19 Queen Street were patronised by George IV. The particularly French nature of this bed combined with its antique rippled mouldings may indicate that it was supplied by Le Gaigneur. However, much of the furnishing carried out for the 2nd Earl was executed by Thomas Donaldson (d.1835) of Shrewsbury, as described in The Stranger in Shrewsbury, 1816. Here T.J. Howell noted Attingham's 'rich and costly carvings and ornamental furniture... executed by Mr. Donaldson of Shrewsbury, whose correct taste in that fine art is too well appreciated to need any eulogim here' (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 250)
It is extremely tempting to identify this bed with one that was included in the house sale at Attingham that was held by Mr. Robins on 30 July 1827 and included:
'AN ELEGANT JAPANNED ROSEWOOD AND YELLOW FRAME GRECIAN-SCROLL END FRENCH COUCH BEDSTEAD, with folding canopy tester to slide in the elbows, thick hair squab, and folding back ditto, to form mattress, two round feather bolsters, and two large down pillows, in canvas, and handsome white-ground pink and blue-flowered chintz cotton cases and Furniture, on turned legs and brass casters, 8 feet' £15 15
The present square block feet may be a replacement for 'turned' legs (ie. feet) but the main stumbling block is the material. This bed is rosewood with simulated rosewood feet but the catalogue description is categoric.
Also included in the house sale was Lady Sarah Berwick's rosewood cabinet 'enriched with buhl and tortoiseshell' (lot 115), which can now be attributed to Louis Constantin Le Gaigneur (fl.1814-21), whose London workshops at 19 Queen Street were patronised by George IV. The particularly French nature of this bed combined with its antique rippled mouldings may indicate that it was supplied by Le Gaigneur. However, much of the furnishing carried out for the 2nd Earl was executed by Thomas Donaldson (d.1835) of Shrewsbury, as described in The Stranger in Shrewsbury, 1816. Here T.J. Howell noted Attingham's 'rich and costly carvings and ornamental furniture... executed by Mr. Donaldson of Shrewsbury, whose correct taste in that fine art is too well appreciated to need any eulogim here' (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 250)