Lot Essay
The table's distinct leg design is also featured on a large suite of seat furniture comprising at least one sofa, chairs and stools supplied in the early 1760s to Charles Powlett, the Fifth Duke of Bolton (d.1765) for Hackwood Park, Hampshire. According to a 1765 inventory, the suite is described entirely as 'French elbow chairs.' At that time, the suite was in the 'Best Drawing Room', 'His Grace's Dressing Room' and the 'Bed Chamber Adjoining.' A pair of open armchairs from Hackwood sold Christie's House Sale, 20-22 April 1998, lot 83. Another pair sold anonymously [Property of a Gentleman], Christie's London, 4 June 2009, lot 79. A closely related stool possibly supplied for Hackwood or Tabley House, Cheshire, was sold at Christie's London 19 April 1990, lot 68.
THE PROVENANCE
Francis P. Garvan and Mabel Brady Garvan were pioneer collectors of American furniture. Garvan began collecting soon after his marriage in 1910 and began refining his purchases in his latter years with the guidance of top scholars, principally Luke Vincent Lockwood (d. 1951) of the Brooklyn Museum and R.T. Haines Halsey (d. 1942) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The quality of the collection was such that by 1924 Halsey borrowed objects for the opening of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum. "...It is clear that [Garvan] soon developed a philosophy which emphasized quality and comprehensiveness... he felt that for his purposes both masterpieces of the highest quality and a representative collection of makers, forms, and materials were needed," wrote Gerald W.R. Ward in Francis P. Garvan, Collector (1980).
The collection was gifted to Yale University in 1930 by Francis (class of 1897) in honor of his wife. The Mabel Brady Garvan collection is considered one of the foremost museum collections of early American decorative arts.
THE PROVENANCE
Francis P. Garvan and Mabel Brady Garvan were pioneer collectors of American furniture. Garvan began collecting soon after his marriage in 1910 and began refining his purchases in his latter years with the guidance of top scholars, principally Luke Vincent Lockwood (d. 1951) of the Brooklyn Museum and R.T. Haines Halsey (d. 1942) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The quality of the collection was such that by 1924 Halsey borrowed objects for the opening of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum. "...It is clear that [Garvan] soon developed a philosophy which emphasized quality and comprehensiveness... he felt that for his purposes both masterpieces of the highest quality and a representative collection of makers, forms, and materials were needed," wrote Gerald W.R. Ward in Francis P. Garvan, Collector (1980).
The collection was gifted to Yale University in 1930 by Francis (class of 1897) in honor of his wife. The Mabel Brady Garvan collection is considered one of the foremost museum collections of early American decorative arts.