Lot Essay
The sofas were commissioned in 1816 by Matthew Robinson Boulton (d. 1842), son of the celebrated Birmingham industrialist for Tew Park, Oxfordshire. The house, acquired the previous year as a sporting retreat, was furnished by George Bullock (d. 1818), Upholder and Cabinet-Maker of Liverpool, whose 'Grecian Rooms' had opened in London in 1813.
Designed in the Regency 'antique' manner, their columnar legs capped by patera-enriched tablets, relate to furniture supplied by Bullock in 1815 for Napoleon's residence on St. Helena under the direction of the architect William Atkinson (d. 1839) (see lot ...). The Grecian steel-shaped arms are inlaid in the 'buhl' manner with foliate sprays incorporating honeysuckle and are capped by carved sunflowers. Bullock, who specialised in the jingoistic use of native woods, wrote to Boulton in July 1816 concerning the holly inlay, and stated: 'the effect of the white and oak is very delicate'. One, supplied for the Library, was upholstered in the 'French' manner with three back cushions and two square tasselled arm-cushions and a richly tasselled fringe, as illustrated in an 1849 watercolour of the room. It figured in Bullock's 1817 invoice as:
'1 Oak Sofa richly inlaid with Holly french stuf'd & covered with Green twilled Calico welted with yellow Velvet with Cushions &c. #32 10s'
It was also supplied with winter and summer loose covers; one of brown calico with black silk galloon and the other of 'Geranium damask' chintz... #12 2s 10d
Its pair, supplied for the Drawing Room, was invoiced as:
1 Oak Sofa french stuffed and covered with Pink imbosd twilled calico welted with Brown velvet with Cushions &c. #32 10s'
and accompanied by the same loose covers.
A corresponding design, surviving amongst the Wilkinson Tracings (p. 67), now in the Birmingham City Art Gallery, depicts the long tasselled fringes in the French Empire style; but unlike other designs for Tew furniture, it is not inscribed with Boulton's name.
A related sofa by Goerge Bullock from Battle Abbey, was sold at Sotheyb's London, ....
Designed in the Regency 'antique' manner, their columnar legs capped by patera-enriched tablets, relate to furniture supplied by Bullock in 1815 for Napoleon's residence on St. Helena under the direction of the architect William Atkinson (d. 1839) (see lot ...). The Grecian steel-shaped arms are inlaid in the 'buhl' manner with foliate sprays incorporating honeysuckle and are capped by carved sunflowers. Bullock, who specialised in the jingoistic use of native woods, wrote to Boulton in July 1816 concerning the holly inlay, and stated: 'the effect of the white and oak is very delicate'. One, supplied for the Library, was upholstered in the 'French' manner with three back cushions and two square tasselled arm-cushions and a richly tasselled fringe, as illustrated in an 1849 watercolour of the room. It figured in Bullock's 1817 invoice as:
'1 Oak Sofa richly inlaid with Holly french stuf'd & covered with Green twilled Calico welted with yellow Velvet with Cushions &c. #32 10s'
It was also supplied with winter and summer loose covers; one of brown calico with black silk galloon and the other of 'Geranium damask' chintz... #12 2s 10d
Its pair, supplied for the Drawing Room, was invoiced as:
1 Oak Sofa french stuffed and covered with Pink imbosd twilled calico welted with Brown velvet with Cushions &c. #32 10s'
and accompanied by the same loose covers.
A corresponding design, surviving amongst the Wilkinson Tracings (p. 67), now in the Birmingham City Art Gallery, depicts the long tasselled fringes in the French Empire style; but unlike other designs for Tew furniture, it is not inscribed with Boulton's name.
A related sofa by Goerge Bullock from Battle Abbey, was sold at Sotheyb's London, ....