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Lot Essay
SUDBURY HALL AND THE VERNONS
George Vernon (1635-1702) was but twenty-two years of age when, in 1659 he inherited vast estates in the Midlands, most notably at Sudbury in Derbyshire. Auspiciously marrying the heiress Margaret Otley only months before the Restoration of the monarchy, Vernon embarked upon an ambitious building program that would last for over thirty years and to this day stands as a monument to Carolean taste. In 1680 his great-grandmothers' half-timbered house was demolished and the foundations for the new house, clearly influenced in design by Clarendon House, Piccadilly - amongst the first great classical houses to be built in London and easily the most striking of them. It was imitated far and wide, both closely and loosely - were laid. George Vernon's Daybook, rediscovered in 1935, reveals that he used both local craftsmen, such as the Midlands carver and architect William Wilson, the joiner Thomas Johnson and the plasterer Samuel Mansfield of Derby, as well as London masters such as Edward Pearce, the plasterer James Pettifer and 'his man' Robert Bradbury.
The ambitious interiors at Sudbury undertaken by George Vernon in the 1670s are well documented in his Daybook (see G. Beard, Craftsmen & Interior Decoration in England 1660-1820, London, 1981, pp. 141-142). However the present mirror, along with an accompanying smaller mirror frame that still remains in the Library at Sudbury and the pair of massive giltwood pier tables in the Long Gallery (both illustrated in situ in the National Trust Guide Book) were almost certainly executed by the same hand and introduced to Sudbury between 1690-1720. Whilst documentary evidence is tantalisingly inconclusive, they were most probably commissioned by George Vernon in the 1690s, when Louis Laguerre was employed in the house, decorating the walls of Pearce's staircase. In the 1690s George Vernon had engaged the specialist carver Thomas Young, and it is very possible that Young was responsible for this mirror. Although little documented, Young enjoyed an illustrious career, working at Chatsworth, where he was employed as Master Carver until 1692, at Kiveton, where he worked for the 1st Duke of Leeds between 1694-1704, and also at Burghley, in 1691, and it is more than likely that the decoration of this mirror was intended to fuse the carvings of Edward Pearce of the mid-1670s with the contemporary designs of Daniel Marot (see below). Certainly, the distinctive illusionistic drapery, fruiting swags and Venus scallop-shells can be seen throughout the house in the carved overdoor festoons and carved swags and flourishes on the segmental-headed panelling of the Parlour (or Saloon) excecuted by Edward Pearce in 1677, as well as in the plasterwork of the Long Gallery and Staircase executed by James Pettifer (fl.1685-1698).
It is also conceivable that the mirror dates from a decade or so later, to the early 18th century phase of decoration under the short stewardship of George's son, Henry Vernon (1686-1718). If so, it would almost certainly have been introduced after the marriage of Henry Vernon to the heiress Anne Pigott (d. 1714). Henry had inherited in 1702, but it was his heiress wife, who had brought Cheshire estates and the Barony of Kinderton to the Vernons, that provided new impetus to the enrichments at Sudbury, up until her death in 1714.
Conceived in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' fashion popularised by engravings such as the Nouvelle Cheminées à panneaux de Glace à la maniére de France and the Second Livre d'Appartements, issued around 1700 by William III's 'architect' Daniel Marot (d. 1752), the ornament for this mirror relates to that of William III's armorial tapestries designed by Marot, now hanging in the King's Dining-Room, Windsor Castle (D. Easterly, Grinling Gibbons, London, 1998, fig. 30). It evolved from the type of drapery overmantel designed around 1690 by the sculptor carver Grinling Gibbons (d. 1721), and that executed by him in the mid-1690s for the King's Presence Chamber at Kensington Palace (ibid., figs. 39 & 82). A related mirror with carved drapery swags surrounding the plate, supplied for William and Mary in the 1690s at Kensington Palace, is illustrated in P. Macquoid & R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II, p. 320, pl. 36.
EDWARD PEARCE
Returning to the theory of attribution to the carver Edward Pearce (c. 1630-1695), it is interesting to note that Geoffrey Beard & Cherry Anne Knott refer to a payment in George Vernon's Creditor & Debtor book, 1677, for a panel (now lost) 'in the staire head chamber' £120 [part-payment] (G. Beard & C. A. Knott, April 2000, loc. cit.). While the accomplished level of the carving displays stylistic differences to the known oeuvre of Pearce, on a commission of this scale, which lasted between 1675-1678, Pearce would presumably have delegated much of the carving to his apprentices. Indeed, Pearce does not appear to have ever visited Sudbury, several payments in George Vernon's Daybook 'for Mr Pearce' being given to his man John Grew, who was obviously on site. Certainly Beard and Knott drew parallels between Pearce and the mirror still in the Library at Sudbury, undoubtedly by the same hand as that offered here, which has a later Regency circular plate with ebonised surround (G. Beard & C. A. Knott, ibid., April 2000, p. 46 and p. 48, n. 25).
THE ORNAMENT
The carved tablet reveals a medallioned glass gadrooned by antique-fluted reeds framed in the laureled drapery of a beribboned cloth of state, and wreathed by Roman foliage issuing an abundance of fruit and flowers that is tied to its shell bracket. Its ribboned borders are likewise scrolled by Roman acanthus; while beribboned flowers and shells mosaiced in the lozenge-trellised compartments of its spandrels serve to evoke Venus and her temple in Rome.
We are grateful to Tim Knox, Head Curator of the National Trust, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry. A gilding analysis is available on request.
George Vernon (1635-1702) was but twenty-two years of age when, in 1659 he inherited vast estates in the Midlands, most notably at Sudbury in Derbyshire. Auspiciously marrying the heiress Margaret Otley only months before the Restoration of the monarchy, Vernon embarked upon an ambitious building program that would last for over thirty years and to this day stands as a monument to Carolean taste. In 1680 his great-grandmothers' half-timbered house was demolished and the foundations for the new house, clearly influenced in design by Clarendon House, Piccadilly - amongst the first great classical houses to be built in London and easily the most striking of them. It was imitated far and wide, both closely and loosely - were laid. George Vernon's Daybook, rediscovered in 1935, reveals that he used both local craftsmen, such as the Midlands carver and architect William Wilson, the joiner Thomas Johnson and the plasterer Samuel Mansfield of Derby, as well as London masters such as Edward Pearce, the plasterer James Pettifer and 'his man' Robert Bradbury.
The ambitious interiors at Sudbury undertaken by George Vernon in the 1670s are well documented in his Daybook (see G. Beard, Craftsmen & Interior Decoration in England 1660-1820, London, 1981, pp. 141-142). However the present mirror, along with an accompanying smaller mirror frame that still remains in the Library at Sudbury and the pair of massive giltwood pier tables in the Long Gallery (both illustrated in situ in the National Trust Guide Book) were almost certainly executed by the same hand and introduced to Sudbury between 1690-1720. Whilst documentary evidence is tantalisingly inconclusive, they were most probably commissioned by George Vernon in the 1690s, when Louis Laguerre was employed in the house, decorating the walls of Pearce's staircase. In the 1690s George Vernon had engaged the specialist carver Thomas Young, and it is very possible that Young was responsible for this mirror. Although little documented, Young enjoyed an illustrious career, working at Chatsworth, where he was employed as Master Carver until 1692, at Kiveton, where he worked for the 1st Duke of Leeds between 1694-1704, and also at Burghley, in 1691, and it is more than likely that the decoration of this mirror was intended to fuse the carvings of Edward Pearce of the mid-1670s with the contemporary designs of Daniel Marot (see below). Certainly, the distinctive illusionistic drapery, fruiting swags and Venus scallop-shells can be seen throughout the house in the carved overdoor festoons and carved swags and flourishes on the segmental-headed panelling of the Parlour (or Saloon) excecuted by Edward Pearce in 1677, as well as in the plasterwork of the Long Gallery and Staircase executed by James Pettifer (fl.1685-1698).
It is also conceivable that the mirror dates from a decade or so later, to the early 18th century phase of decoration under the short stewardship of George's son, Henry Vernon (1686-1718). If so, it would almost certainly have been introduced after the marriage of Henry Vernon to the heiress Anne Pigott (d. 1714). Henry had inherited in 1702, but it was his heiress wife, who had brought Cheshire estates and the Barony of Kinderton to the Vernons, that provided new impetus to the enrichments at Sudbury, up until her death in 1714.
Conceived in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' fashion popularised by engravings such as the Nouvelle Cheminées à panneaux de Glace à la maniére de France and the Second Livre d'Appartements, issued around 1700 by William III's 'architect' Daniel Marot (d. 1752), the ornament for this mirror relates to that of William III's armorial tapestries designed by Marot, now hanging in the King's Dining-Room, Windsor Castle (D. Easterly, Grinling Gibbons, London, 1998, fig. 30). It evolved from the type of drapery overmantel designed around 1690 by the sculptor carver Grinling Gibbons (d. 1721), and that executed by him in the mid-1690s for the King's Presence Chamber at Kensington Palace (ibid., figs. 39 & 82). A related mirror with carved drapery swags surrounding the plate, supplied for William and Mary in the 1690s at Kensington Palace, is illustrated in P. Macquoid & R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II, p. 320, pl. 36.
EDWARD PEARCE
Returning to the theory of attribution to the carver Edward Pearce (c. 1630-1695), it is interesting to note that Geoffrey Beard & Cherry Anne Knott refer to a payment in George Vernon's Creditor & Debtor book, 1677, for a panel (now lost) 'in the staire head chamber' £120 [part-payment] (G. Beard & C. A. Knott, April 2000, loc. cit.). While the accomplished level of the carving displays stylistic differences to the known oeuvre of Pearce, on a commission of this scale, which lasted between 1675-1678, Pearce would presumably have delegated much of the carving to his apprentices. Indeed, Pearce does not appear to have ever visited Sudbury, several payments in George Vernon's Daybook 'for Mr Pearce' being given to his man John Grew, who was obviously on site. Certainly Beard and Knott drew parallels between Pearce and the mirror still in the Library at Sudbury, undoubtedly by the same hand as that offered here, which has a later Regency circular plate with ebonised surround (G. Beard & C. A. Knott, ibid., April 2000, p. 46 and p. 48, n. 25).
THE ORNAMENT
The carved tablet reveals a medallioned glass gadrooned by antique-fluted reeds framed in the laureled drapery of a beribboned cloth of state, and wreathed by Roman foliage issuing an abundance of fruit and flowers that is tied to its shell bracket. Its ribboned borders are likewise scrolled by Roman acanthus; while beribboned flowers and shells mosaiced in the lozenge-trellised compartments of its spandrels serve to evoke Venus and her temple in Rome.
We are grateful to Tim Knox, Head Curator of the National Trust, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry. A gilding analysis is available on request.