Details
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Provenance
By repute the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, in a villa near Florence The Earls of Kenmare, Killarney House, Co. Kerry
Bertram & Son
William West
J.W. Tennant-Eyles, Esq., Barcote Manor, Oxfordshire

Lot Essay

Barcote Manor was completed in 1878 for Lady Theodora Guest, daughter of the Duke of Westminster. In 1881 she sold the house to William West. The leather was installed either by Lady Theodora or by Mr West. A letter from Bertram & Son to William West, dated 8th February 1893 (reproduced Andrew S.N. Wright, The History of Barcote, Oxford 1965) is of interest:
Sir,
I beg respectfully to inform you that I am at last in a position to tell you about the old leather, but I only got the information from Lady Kenmare today. It was formerly on the walls of some rooms in a villa near Florence belonging to the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia and had been there for some generations; at her death the estate and effects were sold and the leather was bought by Lord Kenmare and put upon the Dining Room at Killarney House, from which I had it direct.
I am very sorry you have been kept waiting so long, but Lady Kenmare never answered my many letters about it and I only got it today on seeing her Ladyship.
Remaining Sir, you de.dt Serv.t
H. Bertram


The panels would seem most likely to have been made in the Netherlands or in Spain. A report on the panels and their possible origin by John W. Waterer of the Museum of Leathercraft is available for inspection.

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