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Lot Essay
This screen - extremely rare in its depiction of Portuguese 'nabobs' - appears to be the pendant pair to that sold from Wrotham Park in these Rooms by Julian Byng, Esq., 8 July 1993, lot 64 (£25,300). Also of four leaves and almost certainly conceived together, the Wrotham screen probably entered the Strafford Collection through the marriage of Florence Miles (d. 1862) of Leigh Court, Bristol, to Edmund, later 5th Earl of Strafford (d.1918). The 'very wealthy merchant and manufacurer' Philip John Miles (d. 1845) commissioned Thomas Hopper circa 1814 to design Leigh Court in the French Grecian taste, which he consequently furnished with a juxtaposition of 'fashionable' Regency furniture and Georgian giltwood furniture (such as the pair of chairs sold in these Rooms, 19 November 1992, lot 59), as well as an exceptional collection of predominantly Dutch and Italian Old Master Pictures.
The Wrotham screen was exhibited from the collection of Viscount Enfield in 'English Decorative Art', Lansdowne House, London, February 17-28, 1929, no. 380.
A screen of similar design with pierced foliate top and cartouches depicting the life of Sampson was offered anonymously, in these Rooms, 14 November 1991, lot 138. The subjects of both screens are likely to have been taken from prints exported from Holland, England and France. Another screen decorated with European figures on a red ground was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 19 April 1990, lot 154.
The Wrotham screen was exhibited from the collection of Viscount Enfield in 'English Decorative Art', Lansdowne House, London, February 17-28, 1929, no. 380.
A screen of similar design with pierced foliate top and cartouches depicting the life of Sampson was offered anonymously, in these Rooms, 14 November 1991, lot 138. The subjects of both screens are likely to have been taken from prints exported from Holland, England and France. Another screen decorated with European figures on a red ground was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 19 April 1990, lot 154.