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Lot Essay
The collection of Continental and British decorative art inherited by Lionel de Rothschild (1884-1942) and which furnished Exbury House, his home in Hampshire, came from both his father Leopold de Rothschild's home at 5, Hamilton Place, off Park Lane, and his uncle Alfred de Rothschild at Halton Place in Buckinghamshire. These brothers in turn had inherited a considerable amount of fine and decorative art from their father, Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879), one of the greatest collectors of his generation. He rebuilt his house at 148 Piccadilly next door to the Duke of Wellington at Apsely House, between 1860 and 1868, in the style of an Italian palazzo by the architects Nelson and Innes. This house was inherited by his eldest son Nathaniel, first Lord Rothschild while his brothers moved to houses close by- Alfred to Seamore Place and Leopold to Hamilton Place. Baron Lionel, began collecting pictures in the 1830s, though most of the French furniture and porcelain, enamels, bronzes and other works of art were purchased in the 1850s specifically to furnish 148 Piccadilly.
The house remained unaltered until it was inherited from his grandmother, by the Hon. Victor Rothschild in 1935 and the contents sold off two years later. It was demolished in 1959 to widen the southern end of Park Lane.
Though the first Lord Rothschild and Leopold de Rothschild added little to their inheritances by way of furniture and porcelain, their brother Alfred was a great collector, and the contents of his country house at Halton passed to Lionel de Rothschild, Leopold's eldest son, in 1918 and were removed to Exbury to furnish the newly rebuilt house. Lionel had inherited the contents of Hamilton Place the previous year at the death of his father, and removed the 18th Century French panelling bought by Leopold in Paris in the 1880s to be re-used at Exbury as settings for the very large group of important pieces of French 18th Century furniture he had acquired.
Lionel died during the Second Word War, a time of depression in the art market, and high death duties, so his son and heir, Edmund de Rothschild (b. 1916) was obliged to part with a large part of Alfred and Leopold's collection, many pieces now being in museums in Britain and the U.S.A. Edmund de Rothschild also felt that the restoration and expansion of his father's magnificent rhododendron and azalea garden was a compelling reason to part with an art collection, a garden which lives on.
BEURDELEY
Founded in around 1815 by Jean Beurdeley (d. 1853), the company's reputation was principally established under the latter's son, Louis-Auguste-Alfred (d. 1882), who took over from his father in 1840, opening a large shop in the Pavillon de Hanovre, on the corner of boulevard des Italiens and rue Louis-Legrand. Known chiefly for the refinement of its ormolu, whose mercurial gilding and hand chasing makes it difficult to distinguish from late 18th Century work, Beurdeley exhibited and won awards at all of the major International Exhibitions during the second half of the 19th century. The success and reputation of the firm continued under Alfred Beurdeley (d. 1919), who took over from his father in 1875. The company's workshops finally closed in 1895 and Beurdeley's stock was sold over a number of auctions. A number of these sales were conducted by Galerie Georges Petit of Paris. Two catalogues of the collection were published in 1895 and sales were held between 6-8 March and again on 27-28 May.
The Rothschild archive records the present table as having been supplied by Beurdeley to Baron Lionel de Rothschild in 1862. It is described as: 'Une table de milieu en ecaille avec incrustation de nacre figurent des foliage, figures et fleurs, la dit avec sons pieds en ecaille et nacre'. Interestingly, an invoice dated 22 September 1863 lists further items delivered by the firm to the Baron, among them 'une table marbre noire avec incrustations de nacre et burgot figurant des fleurs et des insectes ladite avec son pied en éecaille et nacre...' (see Sotheby's London, 11 December 2002, lot 36).
We are grateful to Michael Hall, curator to Edmund de Rothschild, for his his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
The house remained unaltered until it was inherited from his grandmother, by the Hon. Victor Rothschild in 1935 and the contents sold off two years later. It was demolished in 1959 to widen the southern end of Park Lane.
Though the first Lord Rothschild and Leopold de Rothschild added little to their inheritances by way of furniture and porcelain, their brother Alfred was a great collector, and the contents of his country house at Halton passed to Lionel de Rothschild, Leopold's eldest son, in 1918 and were removed to Exbury to furnish the newly rebuilt house. Lionel had inherited the contents of Hamilton Place the previous year at the death of his father, and removed the 18th Century French panelling bought by Leopold in Paris in the 1880s to be re-used at Exbury as settings for the very large group of important pieces of French 18th Century furniture he had acquired.
Lionel died during the Second Word War, a time of depression in the art market, and high death duties, so his son and heir, Edmund de Rothschild (b. 1916) was obliged to part with a large part of Alfred and Leopold's collection, many pieces now being in museums in Britain and the U.S.A. Edmund de Rothschild also felt that the restoration and expansion of his father's magnificent rhododendron and azalea garden was a compelling reason to part with an art collection, a garden which lives on.
BEURDELEY
Founded in around 1815 by Jean Beurdeley (d. 1853), the company's reputation was principally established under the latter's son, Louis-Auguste-Alfred (d. 1882), who took over from his father in 1840, opening a large shop in the Pavillon de Hanovre, on the corner of boulevard des Italiens and rue Louis-Legrand. Known chiefly for the refinement of its ormolu, whose mercurial gilding and hand chasing makes it difficult to distinguish from late 18th Century work, Beurdeley exhibited and won awards at all of the major International Exhibitions during the second half of the 19th century. The success and reputation of the firm continued under Alfred Beurdeley (d. 1919), who took over from his father in 1875. The company's workshops finally closed in 1895 and Beurdeley's stock was sold over a number of auctions. A number of these sales were conducted by Galerie Georges Petit of Paris. Two catalogues of the collection were published in 1895 and sales were held between 6-8 March and again on 27-28 May.
The Rothschild archive records the present table as having been supplied by Beurdeley to Baron Lionel de Rothschild in 1862. It is described as: 'Une table de milieu en ecaille avec incrustation de nacre figurent des foliage, figures et fleurs, la dit avec sons pieds en ecaille et nacre'. Interestingly, an invoice dated 22 September 1863 lists further items delivered by the firm to the Baron, among them 'une table marbre noire avec incrustations de nacre et burgot figurant des fleurs et des insectes ladite avec son pied en éecaille et nacre...' (see Sotheby's London, 11 December 2002, lot 36).
We are grateful to Michael Hall, curator to Edmund de Rothschild, for his his help in preparing this catalogue entry.