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Lot Essay
This impressive room was acquired by Florence M. (Mrs. Charles H.) Quinn on behalf of the Huntington in order to display the collection of English furniture she generously donated to the museum. After an extensive two-year search, the room was purchased from the London dealer Alfred Charles Pembery of Dorset Square Gallery in 1940. In an age when a great many houses were being demolished in Britain, Pembery created this room using elements from three great eighteenth century interiors: Castle Hill, Devon (five carved panels), 19 Arlington Street, St. James's, London (the overmantel and double doorway) and Grove House, Chiswick (the chimneypiece). The room is discussed by John Harris in his Moving Rooms (op. cit., pp. 190-191) The Quinn Room was opened to the public on 1 November 1944 and remained on public view until 2005.
CASTLE HILL, DEVONSHIRE
Pembery had acquired elements from the majestic Palladian house, Castle Hill in Devon in 1938. Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (later 1st Earl of Clinton and 1st Baron Fortesque), aggrandized the old manor house in the 1730s. He engaged in this endeavor after resigning his position as Lord to the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, and is thought to have financed the project with profits made from the South Sea Bubble. Lord Fortescue's architect was probably Roger Morris (d. 1749), but he was also advised by Lords Burlington and Pembroke. The swagged panels relate to Morris's work at Marble Hill (such as in the Great Room and Staircase Hall) where he worked for Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (see The Antique Collector, April 1993, p. 57). Furniture from this same period at Castle Hill includes the fantastical suite of seat furniture carved with elephant supports sold by Christie's on 21 April 1966, lot 146-148 (one of the settees is illustrated in G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p. 94, fig.1).
The house was enlarged and modified by Fortescue's descendants, most notably in 1841 and 1862 by the architect Edward Bloor at which time the panels may have been removed although John Harris suggests they were removed in the 1880s. When Pembery purchased the panelling in 1938, they were in storage in the stables, which would have saved them from a devastating fire that gutted the central block of the house just four years earlier (see C. Hussey, 'Castle Hill - II. Devon', Country Life, 24 March 1934, pp. 300-305 and 'The Re-building of Castle Hill, Devon', Country Life, 29 October 1938, pp. 425-430).
19 ARLINGTON STREET, ST. JAMES'S, LONDON
The overmantel and large double-doorway for the Quinn Room came from one of London's storied Georgian houses at 19 Arlington Street, St. James's. The house, overlooking Green Park, was built for John Carteret from 1732-38 and bought by Sir Lawrence Dundas in 1763 for £15,000 as the crowning glory of his political and social ambitions. Dundas, a businessman who had amassed a vast fortune, employed Robert Adam (whom he also engaged for his country property, Moor Park in Herefordshire) to update the interiors. These elements almost certainly were part of the Adam creation. A series of photographs taken by Country Life in 1921 show door frames of a remarkably similar design supplied by Adam for the first floor landing of the Great Staircase (reproduced in J. Cornforth, London Interiors, London, 2000, p. 54 and J. Harris, 'The Dundas Empire', Apollo, September 1967, p. 179, fig. 27). The house was demolished in 1936.
GROVE HOUSE, CHISWICK
The chimneypiece with its fantastical Pan figures was said to have come from Grove House, a property which was owned by the Barker family from the 16th century. The chimney may have been supplied to Henry Barker (d. 1745) who inherited in 1713 or its next owner, Henry, Earl of Grantham, who purchased the house in 1747. Grantham was appointed Lord Chamberlain for the Princess of Wales in 1717 and remained in this position through the rest of her life as Queen Charlotte (d. 1737). He is as well known for establishing the Foundling Hospital for orphans in 1739 (Gillian Klegg, 2007). A later owner, the Duke of Devonshire, acquired the house in 1810 at which time he carried out extensive alterations. Otherwise, little has been recorded about the architecture of the house. The chimney, which is apparently modified in size and mounted with a late 19th century bronze plaque, is photographed in its present form in a room setting - presumably at Grove House - with Vitruvian scroll wainscotting. The house was demolished in 1928 (and reputed to have been re-built brick-by-brick in America but this has yet to be substantiated).
CASTLE HILL, DEVONSHIRE
Pembery had acquired elements from the majestic Palladian house, Castle Hill in Devon in 1938. Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (later 1st Earl of Clinton and 1st Baron Fortesque), aggrandized the old manor house in the 1730s. He engaged in this endeavor after resigning his position as Lord to the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, and is thought to have financed the project with profits made from the South Sea Bubble. Lord Fortescue's architect was probably Roger Morris (d. 1749), but he was also advised by Lords Burlington and Pembroke. The swagged panels relate to Morris's work at Marble Hill (such as in the Great Room and Staircase Hall) where he worked for Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (see The Antique Collector, April 1993, p. 57). Furniture from this same period at Castle Hill includes the fantastical suite of seat furniture carved with elephant supports sold by Christie's on 21 April 1966, lot 146-148 (one of the settees is illustrated in G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p. 94, fig.1).
The house was enlarged and modified by Fortescue's descendants, most notably in 1841 and 1862 by the architect Edward Bloor at which time the panels may have been removed although John Harris suggests they were removed in the 1880s. When Pembery purchased the panelling in 1938, they were in storage in the stables, which would have saved them from a devastating fire that gutted the central block of the house just four years earlier (see C. Hussey, 'Castle Hill - II. Devon', Country Life, 24 March 1934, pp. 300-305 and 'The Re-building of Castle Hill, Devon', Country Life, 29 October 1938, pp. 425-430).
19 ARLINGTON STREET, ST. JAMES'S, LONDON
The overmantel and large double-doorway for the Quinn Room came from one of London's storied Georgian houses at 19 Arlington Street, St. James's. The house, overlooking Green Park, was built for John Carteret from 1732-38 and bought by Sir Lawrence Dundas in 1763 for £15,000 as the crowning glory of his political and social ambitions. Dundas, a businessman who had amassed a vast fortune, employed Robert Adam (whom he also engaged for his country property, Moor Park in Herefordshire) to update the interiors. These elements almost certainly were part of the Adam creation. A series of photographs taken by Country Life in 1921 show door frames of a remarkably similar design supplied by Adam for the first floor landing of the Great Staircase (reproduced in J. Cornforth, London Interiors, London, 2000, p. 54 and J. Harris, 'The Dundas Empire', Apollo, September 1967, p. 179, fig. 27). The house was demolished in 1936.
GROVE HOUSE, CHISWICK
The chimneypiece with its fantastical Pan figures was said to have come from Grove House, a property which was owned by the Barker family from the 16th century. The chimney may have been supplied to Henry Barker (d. 1745) who inherited in 1713 or its next owner, Henry, Earl of Grantham, who purchased the house in 1747. Grantham was appointed Lord Chamberlain for the Princess of Wales in 1717 and remained in this position through the rest of her life as Queen Charlotte (d. 1737). He is as well known for establishing the Foundling Hospital for orphans in 1739 (Gillian Klegg, 2007). A later owner, the Duke of Devonshire, acquired the house in 1810 at which time he carried out extensive alterations. Otherwise, little has been recorded about the architecture of the house. The chimney, which is apparently modified in size and mounted with a late 19th century bronze plaque, is photographed in its present form in a room setting - presumably at Grove House - with Vitruvian scroll wainscotting. The house was demolished in 1928 (and reputed to have been re-built brick-by-brick in America but this has yet to be substantiated).