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Lot Essay
This pair of marble relief panels is identical to two further pairs, one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (fig. 1; V&A A4-1990; sold Sotheby's London, 7 December 1989, lot 169) and the other is in a private collection in the United States. In addition, there is an identical pair executed in terracotta in the Victoria and Albert Museum (fig. 2; V&A 7717/8-1863). Less architectural, but closely related to the present lot, are a pair of white marble torchères modelled as free-standing putti sold Sotheby's London, 8 July 1998, lot 85.
When these panels were sold at Sotheby's in 1998, extensive archival research linked the other two pairs of panels to a fireplace supplied by Rysbrack for the 'Great Saloon' or 'Ball Room' at Bedford House, London, built by John, 4th Duke of Bedford in circa 1733-36. The provenance of the present pair, like that of the terracottas, remains unknown. Yet this newly established close connection to Bedford House not only strengthens the Rysbrack attribution, but also suggests this present pair were made by the master or his workshop at around the same time, either as a similar fireplace surround or as another architectural element. Rysbrack's fireplace, probably executed in association with the master mason, John Devall, was one of the largest produced in England during the 18th century and originally measured almost 17 feet wide by 6 feet high. The archives of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey show Rysbrack charged a substantial £415 for the chimney, paid in two parts (A Particular Account of the Charge of Building & Repairing Bedford House...1736).
There are contemporary and later descriptions of the magnificent 'Great Saloon' at Bedford House. Decorated in green and gold, the room was hung with a set of full-size copies after Raphael's cartoons by Sir James Thornhill, now in the collection of the Royal Academy, and a large suite of giltwood furniture, including four marble top side tables supported by entwined dolphins. Having toured Bedford House and viewed the recent improvements, the Duchess of Marlborough, whose granddaughter Lady Spencer had married the Duke of Bedford, declared 'I am sure there is not so good a house anywhere in the world' (G. S. Thompson, ed., Letters of a Grandmother 1732-35, 1943, p. 70). A more recent description described the 'Great Saloon' 'with its elaborate stuccowork by one of the finest Rococo plasterers, its vast chimney piece by the greatest sculptor of the day, and it's copies of the Raphael Cartoons which had been bought at Sir James Thornhill's death, was clearly intended to compete with the finest rooms in London' (G. Worsley, 'The "Best Turned" House of the Duke of Bedford', The Georgian Group Journal, vol. VI, 1996, p. 69).
The chimneypiece was dismantled in 1800, prior to the demolition of Bedford House and there is no known visual record. The catalogue of the demolition sale of Bedford House mentions 'A MAGNIFICENT STATUARY MARBLE CHIMNEY PIECE, THE CORNICE SUPPORTED BY FOUR BACCHANALIAN BOYS, IN ALTO RELIEVO, THE TABLET, A HEAD OF A RIVER GOD, IN BOLD RELIEF; THE JAUMBS AND FRIEZES ORNAMENTED WITH FOLIAGE AND SHELLS, AND ENRICHED MOULDINGS OF EXQUISITE SCULPTURE' (Christie's sale on the premises, 5 May 1800, lot 71). A copy of the Bedford House demolition sale is preserved in the archives of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey and is marked that the buyer of the chimneypiece of the Great Saloon was Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. This is confirmed by other sources including another marked sale catalogue in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum and by an account of the Bedford House sale in The Gentleman's Magazine on May 7, 1800 (vol. LXX, p. 427) which described the Duke of Norfolk as in the process of renovating Arundel Castle, for which the Bedford chimneypiece was intended.
Whether they were installed at Arundel, or not, these reliefs were later offered for sale by the 15th Duke in 1891. A sale of architectural fittings from Arundel organized by a local firm of Sparks & Sons and listed in sale catalogue were 'Two figures of boys in bold relief supporting richly carved cornice in statuary marble' and 'The companion ditto' (Sparks & Sons, Arundel, Sussex, 14-15 April 1891, lots 298 and 299). They are listed in a copy of the catalogue in the archives of the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel as unsold. In 1911, they were offered by Christie's and described in the catalogue as 'Two Portions of a Chimney-Piece, of white marble, each sculptured in high relief with two children supporting a frieze' (Christie's London, 1 December 1911, lot 85). They were sold through the dealer Charles Davis and bought by Harding for £162 15s. With some minor differences, the sizes recorded in the 1891 and 1911 sale catalogues are almost identical to the Victoria and Albert and the U.S. private versions.
It is possible that the terracotta reliefs in the Victoria and Albert Museum are Rysbrack's original studies for the Bedford House chimneypiece. Not only do they match the description of these reliefs of the 1800 sale catalogue, but Rysbrack is known to have produced such studies for this, or very similar pieces. In the sale of the collection of the architect Edward Stevens in 1776, a number of works by Rysbrack are recorded, including 'Boys, in terracotta, the original design for the Grand Saloon at Bedford House' (Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, p. 335).
From the time of his arrival in England around 1720, Rysbrack established himself as the foremost sculptor in England, attracting commissions from the Royal Family and senior members of the nobility. Although principally employed as a sculptor of monuments and busts, Rysbrack undertook numerous commissions for chimneypieces, working with some of the most celebrated English architects of the period, including William Kent, James Gibbs and Robert Adam (see M. Baker, 'Sculpture for Palladian Interiors, Rysbrack's reliefs and their setting', in K. Eustace, ed., Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor, 1694-1770, exh. cat., City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, 1982, pp.35-41). In addition to the chimneypiece supplied to Bedford House, Rysbrack also carved two other examples for the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, described in his own words as with 'Women, Thermes, Ornamented with festoons of Fruit and Flowers, and a Ram's Head in each, Ornamented with Flowers as rich as can be'. Other chimneypieces by the sculptor are recorded at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, Longford Castle, Wiltshire, Clandon Park, Surrey and Kensington Palace. These have been described as 'among the greatest achievements of architectural sculpture in eighteenth-century England' (Eustace, op. cit., p. 749).
When these panels were sold at Sotheby's in 1998, extensive archival research linked the other two pairs of panels to a fireplace supplied by Rysbrack for the 'Great Saloon' or 'Ball Room' at Bedford House, London, built by John, 4th Duke of Bedford in circa 1733-36. The provenance of the present pair, like that of the terracottas, remains unknown. Yet this newly established close connection to Bedford House not only strengthens the Rysbrack attribution, but also suggests this present pair were made by the master or his workshop at around the same time, either as a similar fireplace surround or as another architectural element. Rysbrack's fireplace, probably executed in association with the master mason, John Devall, was one of the largest produced in England during the 18th century and originally measured almost 17 feet wide by 6 feet high. The archives of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey show Rysbrack charged a substantial £415 for the chimney, paid in two parts (A Particular Account of the Charge of Building & Repairing Bedford House...1736).
There are contemporary and later descriptions of the magnificent 'Great Saloon' at Bedford House. Decorated in green and gold, the room was hung with a set of full-size copies after Raphael's cartoons by Sir James Thornhill, now in the collection of the Royal Academy, and a large suite of giltwood furniture, including four marble top side tables supported by entwined dolphins. Having toured Bedford House and viewed the recent improvements, the Duchess of Marlborough, whose granddaughter Lady Spencer had married the Duke of Bedford, declared 'I am sure there is not so good a house anywhere in the world' (G. S. Thompson, ed., Letters of a Grandmother 1732-35, 1943, p. 70). A more recent description described the 'Great Saloon' 'with its elaborate stuccowork by one of the finest Rococo plasterers, its vast chimney piece by the greatest sculptor of the day, and it's copies of the Raphael Cartoons which had been bought at Sir James Thornhill's death, was clearly intended to compete with the finest rooms in London' (G. Worsley, 'The "Best Turned" House of the Duke of Bedford', The Georgian Group Journal, vol. VI, 1996, p. 69).
The chimneypiece was dismantled in 1800, prior to the demolition of Bedford House and there is no known visual record. The catalogue of the demolition sale of Bedford House mentions 'A MAGNIFICENT STATUARY MARBLE CHIMNEY PIECE, THE CORNICE SUPPORTED BY FOUR BACCHANALIAN BOYS, IN ALTO RELIEVO, THE TABLET, A HEAD OF A RIVER GOD, IN BOLD RELIEF; THE JAUMBS AND FRIEZES ORNAMENTED WITH FOLIAGE AND SHELLS, AND ENRICHED MOULDINGS OF EXQUISITE SCULPTURE' (Christie's sale on the premises, 5 May 1800, lot 71). A copy of the Bedford House demolition sale is preserved in the archives of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey and is marked that the buyer of the chimneypiece of the Great Saloon was Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. This is confirmed by other sources including another marked sale catalogue in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum and by an account of the Bedford House sale in The Gentleman's Magazine on May 7, 1800 (vol. LXX, p. 427) which described the Duke of Norfolk as in the process of renovating Arundel Castle, for which the Bedford chimneypiece was intended.
Whether they were installed at Arundel, or not, these reliefs were later offered for sale by the 15th Duke in 1891. A sale of architectural fittings from Arundel organized by a local firm of Sparks & Sons and listed in sale catalogue were 'Two figures of boys in bold relief supporting richly carved cornice in statuary marble' and 'The companion ditto' (Sparks & Sons, Arundel, Sussex, 14-15 April 1891, lots 298 and 299). They are listed in a copy of the catalogue in the archives of the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel as unsold. In 1911, they were offered by Christie's and described in the catalogue as 'Two Portions of a Chimney-Piece, of white marble, each sculptured in high relief with two children supporting a frieze' (Christie's London, 1 December 1911, lot 85). They were sold through the dealer Charles Davis and bought by Harding for £162 15s. With some minor differences, the sizes recorded in the 1891 and 1911 sale catalogues are almost identical to the Victoria and Albert and the U.S. private versions.
It is possible that the terracotta reliefs in the Victoria and Albert Museum are Rysbrack's original studies for the Bedford House chimneypiece. Not only do they match the description of these reliefs of the 1800 sale catalogue, but Rysbrack is known to have produced such studies for this, or very similar pieces. In the sale of the collection of the architect Edward Stevens in 1776, a number of works by Rysbrack are recorded, including 'Boys, in terracotta, the original design for the Grand Saloon at Bedford House' (Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, p. 335).
From the time of his arrival in England around 1720, Rysbrack established himself as the foremost sculptor in England, attracting commissions from the Royal Family and senior members of the nobility. Although principally employed as a sculptor of monuments and busts, Rysbrack undertook numerous commissions for chimneypieces, working with some of the most celebrated English architects of the period, including William Kent, James Gibbs and Robert Adam (see M. Baker, 'Sculpture for Palladian Interiors, Rysbrack's reliefs and their setting', in K. Eustace, ed., Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor, 1694-1770, exh. cat., City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, 1982, pp.35-41). In addition to the chimneypiece supplied to Bedford House, Rysbrack also carved two other examples for the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, described in his own words as with 'Women, Thermes, Ornamented with festoons of Fruit and Flowers, and a Ram's Head in each, Ornamented with Flowers as rich as can be'. Other chimneypieces by the sculptor are recorded at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, Longford Castle, Wiltshire, Clandon Park, Surrey and Kensington Palace. These have been described as 'among the greatest achievements of architectural sculpture in eighteenth-century England' (Eustace, op. cit., p. 749).