EARLY 19TH CENTURY, AFTER A DESIGN BY GEORGE BULLOCK

The Grecian-pedimented and palm-flowered grate is of sarcophagus form, derived from the Pantheonic 'Tomb of Agrippa' (illustrated in E. Harris, The Furniture of Robert Adam, London, 1963, fig. 112), and is embellished in the early 19th Century French antique manner promoted by the connoisseur Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, London, 1807. The 'Agrippa' stove form also featured in a sketch executed by George Bullock, while employed at Tew Park, Oxfordshire around 1820 (C. Gilbert and A. Wells-Cole, The Fashionable Fire Place, Temple Newsam House, Leeds, 1985, p. 30, cat. no. 22), while the brand 'Burton & Co.' featured on another sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 5 July 1991, lot 42.
A closely related grate was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 6 March 2003, lot 126.