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拍品專文
The elegant architecture of this chimneypiece, with its light bas-relief carving in the Roman fashion, typifies the 'antique' style that earned Robert Adam his court appointment in 1761 as 'Architect' to King George III.
Adam's 1763 design for the Roman 'truss' chimneypiece, with its frieze of Grecian palm-flowers emerging from Roman acanthus, was executed the following year by Thomas Carter (d. 1795). Carter, who was reckoned amongst 'the first statuaries of the Kingdom', was one of the most important 'artificers' employed by Adam following the establishment of his London practice. Thomas, in partnership with his uncle Benjamin Carter (d. 1766), maintained the Hyde Park Corner Yard, and amongst the principal craftsmen in their employ was P.M. van Gelder, of Amsterdam, and John Eckstein, who was later appointed sculptor to Frederick the Great of Prussia.
This chimneypiece was among those that Adam designed in his first phase of work at Bowood in the early 1760s, when he was altering the rooms designed by Henry Keene for Sir Orlando Bridgeman (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors, London, 2001, p. 106). On Robert Adam's design, now in the Soane Museum, this chimneypiece is destined for the The Square Room, presumably that which was subsequently known as The Cube Room, although in the 1955 demolition sale this chimneypiece was in the neighbouring King's Room. It could have been moved by Adam himself in a later phase of work, or in the 19th century.
The largest room created by Adam in his early 1760s phase of work was 'The Great Room', which was also bought by The Corporation of Lloyd's in the demolition sale in 1955. It was moved in the 1980s to Lloyd's new Richard Rogers building, where it remains. The present chimneypiece remained in the 1958 building, which is now itself being demolished and its chimneypieces are surplus to requirements.
ROBERT ADAM AND THE EARL OF SHELBURNE
Shelburne was one of Adam's most significant early patrons, commissioning major work at both Bowood House, Wiltshire, and Shelburne (later Lansdowne) House, Berkeley Square. From a patronage viewpoint, Shelburne's main characteristic was chronic indecision. Arthur Bolton wrote that the history of 'both Bowood and Shelburne House rather suggests the vacillating procedure of a client who seeks advice from too many quarters to secure in the end the essential unity of a great artistic achievement' (The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, London, 1922, vol. I, p. 206). The present chimneypiece belongs to the early, more straightforward phase of the relationship between Robert Adam and Shelburne, very soon after Adam had replaced Henry Keene as architect. This first phase of work on the main block of the house included the drawing-room or 'Great Room', that now forms Lloyd's Council Room on the 11th floor of the 1986 building, with its ceiling of recessed dishes derived from Robert Wood's Ruins of Palmyra of 1753 and walls decorated with panels of grotesque ornament of the type found at the Villa Pamphili and used by Adam at Shardeloes previously (Harris, op. cit., p. 109). Apart from the 'Great Room', the early 1760s work at Bowood included only the Entrance Hall, and the two north east rooms. Thus this chimneypiece design represents a very important early pattern by Robert Adam, anxious to impress one of his vital new patrons, who had at that point only commissioned a limited amount of work.
Adam's 1763 design for the Roman 'truss' chimneypiece, with its frieze of Grecian palm-flowers emerging from Roman acanthus, was executed the following year by Thomas Carter (d. 1795). Carter, who was reckoned amongst 'the first statuaries of the Kingdom', was one of the most important 'artificers' employed by Adam following the establishment of his London practice. Thomas, in partnership with his uncle Benjamin Carter (d. 1766), maintained the Hyde Park Corner Yard, and amongst the principal craftsmen in their employ was P.M. van Gelder, of Amsterdam, and John Eckstein, who was later appointed sculptor to Frederick the Great of Prussia.
This chimneypiece was among those that Adam designed in his first phase of work at Bowood in the early 1760s, when he was altering the rooms designed by Henry Keene for Sir Orlando Bridgeman (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors, London, 2001, p. 106). On Robert Adam's design, now in the Soane Museum, this chimneypiece is destined for the The Square Room, presumably that which was subsequently known as The Cube Room, although in the 1955 demolition sale this chimneypiece was in the neighbouring King's Room. It could have been moved by Adam himself in a later phase of work, or in the 19th century.
The largest room created by Adam in his early 1760s phase of work was 'The Great Room', which was also bought by The Corporation of Lloyd's in the demolition sale in 1955. It was moved in the 1980s to Lloyd's new Richard Rogers building, where it remains. The present chimneypiece remained in the 1958 building, which is now itself being demolished and its chimneypieces are surplus to requirements.
ROBERT ADAM AND THE EARL OF SHELBURNE
Shelburne was one of Adam's most significant early patrons, commissioning major work at both Bowood House, Wiltshire, and Shelburne (later Lansdowne) House, Berkeley Square. From a patronage viewpoint, Shelburne's main characteristic was chronic indecision. Arthur Bolton wrote that the history of 'both Bowood and Shelburne House rather suggests the vacillating procedure of a client who seeks advice from too many quarters to secure in the end the essential unity of a great artistic achievement' (The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, London, 1922, vol. I, p. 206). The present chimneypiece belongs to the early, more straightforward phase of the relationship between Robert Adam and Shelburne, very soon after Adam had replaced Henry Keene as architect. This first phase of work on the main block of the house included the drawing-room or 'Great Room', that now forms Lloyd's Council Room on the 11th floor of the 1986 building, with its ceiling of recessed dishes derived from Robert Wood's Ruins of Palmyra of 1753 and walls decorated with panels of grotesque ornament of the type found at the Villa Pamphili and used by Adam at Shardeloes previously (Harris, op. cit., p. 109). Apart from the 'Great Room', the early 1760s work at Bowood included only the Entrance Hall, and the two north east rooms. Thus this chimneypiece design represents a very important early pattern by Robert Adam, anxious to impress one of his vital new patrons, who had at that point only commissioned a limited amount of work.