.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This wine-cooler belongs to a distinguished group attributed to the London carver and gilder, Samuel Norman (active 1746-67) of King Street, Soho. They feature various combinations of satyr, goat, lion, ram and Bacchic mounts, with foliate-wrapped hoof feet and are all of the same width (A. Coleridge, 'Sir Lawrence Dundas and Chippendale', Apollo, September 1967, p.165, fig.8).
Among the closest parallels to the present lot are the pair supplied to Sir Lawrence Dundas by Samuel Norman circa 1764. Either these (or an almost identical example) are photographed in situ at 19 Arlington Street in 1902 (J. Cornforth, London Interiors, London, 2000, p.56-57). They were sold by the Marquess of Zetland from 19 Arlington Street, London at Christie's, London, 26 April 1934, lot 76 (£294 to Moss Harris). They were sold again by order of the Executors of the Late Edmund Vestey, Sotheby's, London, 4 June 2008, lot 185, (£1,049,250 including premium).
RELATED WINECOOLERS
An almost identical wine-cooler to the Dundas goat mask pair and similar to the present example, but with an additional satyr mask plaque, was formerly in the H.H. Mulliner Collection and later in the Untermyer Collection (Y. Hackenbroch, English furniture with some furniture of other countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, 1958, pl.28, fig.47 and p.15). Another, again with goat mask mounts, the property of Robert, 4th Earl of Holderness (d. 1778) of Hornby Castle, Yorkshire was later in The Hochschild Collection, sold Sotheby's, London, 1 December 1978, lot 160 (£19,000 hammer). It can be seen in situ in the Great Hall at Hornby standing in a window bay in a Country Life photograph dated 14 July 1906 ('Hornby Castle', Country Life, 14 July 1906, p.57) and is now in The Gerstenfeld Collection (E. Lennox-Boyd, ed., Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, 1998, p.225, cat. no. 66).
A more simply mounted example, though retaining the goat masks, acquired by Sir Edward Guinness, 1st Bt. and 1st Earl of Iveagh (d.1927), Elveden Hall, Thetford, Norfolk and by descent to the 3rd Earl of Iveagh, was sold at Elveden Hall, Christie's house sale, 21-24 May 1984, lot 497, (£23,000 hammer) and again Christie's, London, 30 November 2000, lot 34 (£52,875 including premium).
SAMUEL NORMAN
Samuel Norman was one of London's foremost craftsmen in the 1750s and 60s, who, with such famous contemporaries as Thomas Chippendale and the Linnells, dominated the cabinet-making, upholstery, carving and gilding trades in that period. Norman was nephew of the renowned cabinet-maker William Hallett (d. 1781), and son-in-law and partner of James Whittle (d.1759). He took over the Sutton Street premises of the notable cabinet-maker and upholsterer, Paul Saunders (d.1771), as well as his stock in trade of brass work and his association with Saunders meant that he had an established clientele and orders waiting to be fulfilled.
In 1763, Norman was appointed 'Master Carver in Wood' to George III's Office of Works in 1763 (P.A. Kirkham, 'Samuel Norman', Burlington Magazine, October 1969, pp. 501-513). Aside from commissions for the Royal Household at Windsor and Buckingham House and the Dundas commissions, Norman also supplied furniture to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, and the Earl of Stanhope at Chevening in Kent (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, 1986, p. 651-652).
Among the closest parallels to the present lot are the pair supplied to Sir Lawrence Dundas by Samuel Norman circa 1764. Either these (or an almost identical example) are photographed in situ at 19 Arlington Street in 1902 (J. Cornforth, London Interiors, London, 2000, p.56-57). They were sold by the Marquess of Zetland from 19 Arlington Street, London at Christie's, London, 26 April 1934, lot 76 (£294 to Moss Harris). They were sold again by order of the Executors of the Late Edmund Vestey, Sotheby's, London, 4 June 2008, lot 185, (£1,049,250 including premium).
RELATED WINECOOLERS
An almost identical wine-cooler to the Dundas goat mask pair and similar to the present example, but with an additional satyr mask plaque, was formerly in the H.H. Mulliner Collection and later in the Untermyer Collection (Y. Hackenbroch, English furniture with some furniture of other countries in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, 1958, pl.28, fig.47 and p.15). Another, again with goat mask mounts, the property of Robert, 4th Earl of Holderness (d. 1778) of Hornby Castle, Yorkshire was later in The Hochschild Collection, sold Sotheby's, London, 1 December 1978, lot 160 (£19,000 hammer). It can be seen in situ in the Great Hall at Hornby standing in a window bay in a Country Life photograph dated 14 July 1906 ('Hornby Castle', Country Life, 14 July 1906, p.57) and is now in The Gerstenfeld Collection (E. Lennox-Boyd, ed., Masterpieces of English Furniture: The Gerstenfeld Collection, 1998, p.225, cat. no. 66).
A more simply mounted example, though retaining the goat masks, acquired by Sir Edward Guinness, 1st Bt. and 1st Earl of Iveagh (d.1927), Elveden Hall, Thetford, Norfolk and by descent to the 3rd Earl of Iveagh, was sold at Elveden Hall, Christie's house sale, 21-24 May 1984, lot 497, (£23,000 hammer) and again Christie's, London, 30 November 2000, lot 34 (£52,875 including premium).
SAMUEL NORMAN
Samuel Norman was one of London's foremost craftsmen in the 1750s and 60s, who, with such famous contemporaries as Thomas Chippendale and the Linnells, dominated the cabinet-making, upholstery, carving and gilding trades in that period. Norman was nephew of the renowned cabinet-maker William Hallett (d. 1781), and son-in-law and partner of James Whittle (d.1759). He took over the Sutton Street premises of the notable cabinet-maker and upholsterer, Paul Saunders (d.1771), as well as his stock in trade of brass work and his association with Saunders meant that he had an established clientele and orders waiting to be fulfilled.
In 1763, Norman was appointed 'Master Carver in Wood' to George III's Office of Works in 1763 (P.A. Kirkham, 'Samuel Norman', Burlington Magazine, October 1969, pp. 501-513). Aside from commissions for the Royal Household at Windsor and Buckingham House and the Dundas commissions, Norman also supplied furniture to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, and the Earl of Stanhope at Chevening in Kent (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, 1986, p. 651-652).