.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Northumberland House.
This chimneypiece attributed to Benjamin and Thomas Carter comes originally from Northumberland House in the Strand and was removed when it was demolished in 1874 to make way for Northumberland Avenue.
Northumberland House was one of the seven magnificent private palaces which originally stood on the Thames-side of the Strand in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It came into Northumberland possession through the marriage in 1642 of Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland to Lady Elizabeth Howard, second daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, great-nephew of the Earl of Northampton, who originally purchased the property and built the house between 1605 and 1609. The house was a square block around a central courtyard with towers at the corners; the main apartments were originally on the Strand side but the Northumberlands moved these to the South (garden) side as part of their alterations. Horace Walpole attributed the original design of the front to Gerard Christmas, whose initials appeared over the main gateway, and the design of the main part of the house to Bernard Jansen. The splendid Jacobean facade with its elaborate tiered central central portal framed by niches, surmounted by the Percy lion and flanked by a pierced balustrade with canopied corner turrets was a distinctive landmark in the Strand. The ancient palace was a remarkable and romantic survival when most of the London mansions were by then further west in Piccadilly and St. James's.
When Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (created Earl of Northumberland in 1749) inherited, he continued the improvements begun by his father and employed the architect Daniel Garrett; his alterations are recorded in Canaletto's painting of 1753. His wife wrote to Lady Luxborough in 1749 'My Lord will do a great deal to the front of the house, in order to make it appear less like a prison.'
The duke died in 1750 and the house passed to his daughter and son-in-law Sir Hugh Smithson, Bt., who took the name Percy and in 1766 became the 1st Duke of Northumberland of the third creation. The Northumberlands were a brilliant couple, greatly interested in all aspects of art and architecture. The scale of their patronage was huge, backed by their enormous resources ably administered by the Duke. They carried out many improvements to Northumberland House including the building of the huge Picture Gallery in the West Wing off the Garden front and the celebrated Glass Drawing Room designed by Robert Adam between 1773 and 1775, which was the most remarkable room of its time in London and the architect's most idiosyncratic creation. This chimneypiece dates from the mid-eighteenth century improvements and was installed either by the Duke of Somerset or by the first Duke and Duchess.
The third Duke succeeded in 1817 and embarked on an even more radical series of alterations and improvements on a scale to rival the sumptuous interiors of Devonshire House and Grosvenor House. He employed Thomas Cundy to rebuild the South Front, enlarging it, changing the fenestration, remodelling the staircase outside and creating the marble and scagliola Grand Staircase. The total cost is estimated at £160,000 and the complete bill for the years 1821-1823 from the cabinet makers Morel and Hughes for furniture and upholstery alone was over £34,000. The appearance of these rooms must have been magnificent - the Saloon contained for instance, among many other treasures, the sumptuous ebony and pietra dura cabinets supplied to Louis XIV in 1863 by Domencio Cucci, which the Duke had bought 'of Baldock of Hanway Place in 1824 for £1000 each'.
When the 6th Duke was forced, against his wishes, to sell Northumberland House to the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1874, he removed almost all of the major fittings and furniture - including the Glass Drawing Room, part of which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (W.3-1955). Some items, like the Glass Drawing Room, were put in store and others were spread between various Nothumberland houses - Syon House, Alnwick Castle and Albury Park.
THE ATTRIBUTION
The attribution of this chimneypiece to the Carter workshops stems from the surviving evidence of the re-building of Northumberland House from 1748 when the 7th Duke of Somerset (d. 1750) employed Daniel Garrett to rebuild the North front. An account of the alterations is contained in a letter written by his wife to Lady Luxborough in June, 1749 which was reproduced in The Builder, on 15 April, 1871.
The Duke of Somerset's account at Hoare's bank records a payment to Carter of £187 on June 2nd 1750 (Ledger U f13) and there is a further payment of £400 on March 25th 1752 (f438) whilst the Northumberland House Account Book records a payment on 23rd May 1757 to Mr Carter Chimney-pieces in full £292. These payments therefore probably relate to the new chimneypieces being made for the new apartments mentioned by Lady Luxborough.
The Carter family was a family of sculptors who established themselves primarily as carvers of chimneypieces in the mid-eighteenth century. Initially founded by two brothers, Thomas and Benjamin, who often worked together, the former was later replaced by his nephew and son-in-law Thomas Carter the Younger, who inherited the business upon the death of Thomas the Elder in 1756 and formed a more solid partnership with his uncle Benjamin.
This chimneypiece attributed to Benjamin and Thomas Carter comes originally from Northumberland House in the Strand and was removed when it was demolished in 1874 to make way for Northumberland Avenue.
Northumberland House was one of the seven magnificent private palaces which originally stood on the Thames-side of the Strand in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It came into Northumberland possession through the marriage in 1642 of Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland to Lady Elizabeth Howard, second daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, great-nephew of the Earl of Northampton, who originally purchased the property and built the house between 1605 and 1609. The house was a square block around a central courtyard with towers at the corners; the main apartments were originally on the Strand side but the Northumberlands moved these to the South (garden) side as part of their alterations. Horace Walpole attributed the original design of the front to Gerard Christmas, whose initials appeared over the main gateway, and the design of the main part of the house to Bernard Jansen. The splendid Jacobean facade with its elaborate tiered central central portal framed by niches, surmounted by the Percy lion and flanked by a pierced balustrade with canopied corner turrets was a distinctive landmark in the Strand. The ancient palace was a remarkable and romantic survival when most of the London mansions were by then further west in Piccadilly and St. James's.
When Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (created Earl of Northumberland in 1749) inherited, he continued the improvements begun by his father and employed the architect Daniel Garrett; his alterations are recorded in Canaletto's painting of 1753. His wife wrote to Lady Luxborough in 1749 'My Lord will do a great deal to the front of the house, in order to make it appear less like a prison.'
The duke died in 1750 and the house passed to his daughter and son-in-law Sir Hugh Smithson, Bt., who took the name Percy and in 1766 became the 1st Duke of Northumberland of the third creation. The Northumberlands were a brilliant couple, greatly interested in all aspects of art and architecture. The scale of their patronage was huge, backed by their enormous resources ably administered by the Duke. They carried out many improvements to Northumberland House including the building of the huge Picture Gallery in the West Wing off the Garden front and the celebrated Glass Drawing Room designed by Robert Adam between 1773 and 1775, which was the most remarkable room of its time in London and the architect's most idiosyncratic creation. This chimneypiece dates from the mid-eighteenth century improvements and was installed either by the Duke of Somerset or by the first Duke and Duchess.
The third Duke succeeded in 1817 and embarked on an even more radical series of alterations and improvements on a scale to rival the sumptuous interiors of Devonshire House and Grosvenor House. He employed Thomas Cundy to rebuild the South Front, enlarging it, changing the fenestration, remodelling the staircase outside and creating the marble and scagliola Grand Staircase. The total cost is estimated at £160,000 and the complete bill for the years 1821-1823 from the cabinet makers Morel and Hughes for furniture and upholstery alone was over £34,000. The appearance of these rooms must have been magnificent - the Saloon contained for instance, among many other treasures, the sumptuous ebony and pietra dura cabinets supplied to Louis XIV in 1863 by Domencio Cucci, which the Duke had bought 'of Baldock of Hanway Place in 1824 for £1000 each'.
When the 6th Duke was forced, against his wishes, to sell Northumberland House to the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1874, he removed almost all of the major fittings and furniture - including the Glass Drawing Room, part of which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (W.3-1955). Some items, like the Glass Drawing Room, were put in store and others were spread between various Nothumberland houses - Syon House, Alnwick Castle and Albury Park.
THE ATTRIBUTION
The attribution of this chimneypiece to the Carter workshops stems from the surviving evidence of the re-building of Northumberland House from 1748 when the 7th Duke of Somerset (d. 1750) employed Daniel Garrett to rebuild the North front. An account of the alterations is contained in a letter written by his wife to Lady Luxborough in June, 1749 which was reproduced in The Builder, on 15 April, 1871.
The Duke of Somerset's account at Hoare's bank records a payment to Carter of £187 on June 2nd 1750 (Ledger U f13) and there is a further payment of £400 on March 25th 1752 (f438) whilst the Northumberland House Account Book records a payment on 23rd May 1757 to Mr Carter Chimney-pieces in full £292. These payments therefore probably relate to the new chimneypieces being made for the new apartments mentioned by Lady Luxborough.
The Carter family was a family of sculptors who established themselves primarily as carvers of chimneypieces in the mid-eighteenth century. Initially founded by two brothers, Thomas and Benjamin, who often worked together, the former was later replaced by his nephew and son-in-law Thomas Carter the Younger, who inherited the business upon the death of Thomas the Elder in 1756 and formed a more solid partnership with his uncle Benjamin.