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Lot Essay
A virtually identical wine cooler, possibly the same one, was sold by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Shaftsbury on 23 June 1949, lot 84 for £126 (Christie, Manson & Woods). In 1915, it was illustrated in Country Life in the Dining Room of St. Giles's House, Dorset ('St. Giles's House - I', Country Life, 13 March 1915, p.337). The 1732-57 Household Account Book for the property lists:
'Paid Mr Hallet for Mahogany Cisterns 5.15.0.'
This is undoubtedly William Hallett (d.1781) described by furniture historians, Ralph Edwards and Margaret Jourdain, as 'probably the most fashionable cabinet-maker of George II's reign'. Hallett played a prominent role in the provision of fashionable 'Modern' furniture in mid-18th Century London, at a time that Thomas Chippendale was establishing his St. Martin's Lane workshop. From the 1730s, his name also featured at many significant country seats including Holkham Hall, Norfolk and Uppark, Sussex. At St. Giles's House, Hallett was the sole London craftsman to receive significant payments from Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (d.1771), supplying furnishings over a seven year period to the property as recorded in the accounts.
A set of seventeen George II mahogany dining-chairs are among the other extraordinary furniture supplied to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, and attributed to Hallett (sold Christie's London, 8 July 1999, lot 40, £1,211,500 including premium). Equally renowned is the exceptional St Giles's suite of drawing-room seat-furniture, originally comprising four settees and twenty-five armchairs (perhaps more), of which four pairs of superbly carved open armchairs are attributed to William Vile (d.1767), formerly Hallett's apprentice.
'Paid Mr Hallet for Mahogany Cisterns 5.15.0.'
This is undoubtedly William Hallett (d.1781) described by furniture historians, Ralph Edwards and Margaret Jourdain, as 'probably the most fashionable cabinet-maker of George II's reign'. Hallett played a prominent role in the provision of fashionable 'Modern' furniture in mid-18th Century London, at a time that Thomas Chippendale was establishing his St. Martin's Lane workshop. From the 1730s, his name also featured at many significant country seats including Holkham Hall, Norfolk and Uppark, Sussex. At St. Giles's House, Hallett was the sole London craftsman to receive significant payments from Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (d.1771), supplying furnishings over a seven year period to the property as recorded in the accounts.
A set of seventeen George II mahogany dining-chairs are among the other extraordinary furniture supplied to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, and attributed to Hallett (sold Christie's London, 8 July 1999, lot 40, £1,211,500 including premium). Equally renowned is the exceptional St Giles's suite of drawing-room seat-furniture, originally comprising four settees and twenty-five armchairs (perhaps more), of which four pairs of superbly carved open armchairs are attributed to William Vile (d.1767), formerly Hallett's apprentice.