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THE STANSTED PARK SUITE
THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
The journey of these remarkable chairs, part of a larger suite of seat-furniture comprising at least eighteen armchairs, a pair of settees, a smaller settee and a matching fire screen, takes them from their origins at historic Stansted Park, Sussex to two of America's most celebrated 'Palaces' of the Gilded Age, and their public display for thirty years at The Huntington Library, California. Five chairs and a settee from the same suite grace the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street while a single chair is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Following the sale at Christie's, New York, 23 November 2010, of six chairs and a settee, the two pairs of chairs offered here represent the last opportunity to acquire Stansted chairs from this distinguished private collection.
STANSTED PARK
The chairs were almost certainly supplied to George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (d. 1771) for Stansted Park, Sussex, who inherited the house in 1766. Having come into a considerable fortune through his marriage to an heiress, the Earl, in the five years that he owned Stansted, made ambitious improvements to the property but 10 years after his death Stansted was sold by his daughter to the wealthy Indian nabob, Richard Barwell. Intriguing is a reference in that same year to a set of 'gold and embroidered chairs' offered to Queen Charlotte but declined due to their prohibitive price, quite possibly the set discussed here. The chairs were still at the house after it next sold to Lewis Way.
In 1900 Stansted was razed to the ground by a devastating fire. At that time the property belonged to George Wilder who rebuilt it again and sold it on two years later. On 13 May 1911, when the suite of seat-furniture sold at Christie's, it was described in the catalogue as:
Lot 96 A SUITE OF OLD ENGLISH FURNITURE, with giltwood frameworks carved with acanthus and laurel foliage, honeysuckle ornament, Classical vases festooned with drapery, and medallion head surmounted by knots of riband, the seats and backs covered with applique embroidery with bouquets of flower in coloured silks on white satin - English, late 18th century - consisting of
A PAIR OF SETTEES - 88 in. long
A SETTEE - 82 in. long
SEVENTEEN ARMCHAIRS
A FIRE SCREEN - 43 in. high
EDWARD T. STOTESBURY AT WHITEMARSH HALL, PHILADELPHIA
The Stansted suite reappears in circa 1922 when some of the armchairs can be glimpsed in a photograph of the Upper Gallery Hall at Whitemarsh Hall, an extraordinary 147-room neo-Palladian mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer for financier Edward T. Stotesbury. Stotesbury was Chief Executive of Drexel and Company and co-partner to J. P. Morgan in New York. At the peak of his wealth, he was worth in excess of $100 million. His second wife, Eva, orchestrated the interiors together with the legendary art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen. Duveen introduced Eva to pre-eminent decorators Lucien Alavoine from Paris and Sir Charles Allom (White Allom & Co.) from London. Under Duveen's supervision, the Stotesburys acquired an important collection of eighteenth century furniture and objects. In 1932, the Stotesburys went to Europe for a year, lending much of the collection to the Pennsylvania Museum (now Philadelphia Museum). Eleven chairs, two settees and three screens were included in this loan which was returned on 23 May 1933.
ANNA THOMSON DODGE AT ROSE TERRACE, MICHIGAN
The suite then passed into the equally splendid collection of Anna Thomson Dodge, Anna Dodge and Eva Stotesbury being close friends. Anna, a child immigrant from Dundee, Scotland, married Horace Dodge who would later make his fortune by selling the Dodge Company to Ford. When he died prematurely in 1920, Anna reportedly became the richest woman in America. In 1931, the unbeatable team of Trumbauer, Duveen and Alavoine was reunited to create Rose Terrace, at Lake St. Clair, Michigan. Following Anna's death in 1970, the suite was sold as part of Christie's famous series of sales of the Dodge Collection in 1970 and 1971.
THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY: THE SUITE ON PUBLIC VIEW FOR THIRTY YEARS
The eleven chairs and settee owned by Mrs. Dodge were shortly thereafter placed on public view in the Huntington's famous Portrait Gallery in San Marino, California. For the next thirty years (until 2005), the suite was prominently placed beneath some of Britain's most famous 18th century portraits including Gainsborough's Blue Boy and Lawrence's Pinkie.
THE SUITE AT 10 DOWNING STREET
Number 10 Downing Street is one of the most recognisable addresses in the world. From 1945-50 - under the new leadership of Prime Minister Clement Attlee - Downing Street was completely renovated, preserving its historical features. It was during this time that six of the Stansted armchairs and a settee were bought by the Ministry of Works - five chairs and the settee remain at Downing Street, the sixth chair was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The chairs have since furnished the White Drawing Room, whose impressive architectural backdrop was part of William Kent's refurbishment of the earlier 17th century house. The White Drawing Room has been the Prime Minister's private family room, and significantly, is often chosen as the backdrop for state meetings and interviews. In addition to post-war Prime Ministers, numerous heads of state and foreign dignitaries have been photographed seated in the Stansted chairs. Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who recognized the considerable importance of the suite, was painted seated in one of the chairs; the portrait hangs in the Carlton Club, the former gentleman's club which made her their first female honorary member in 1975. In 1984, Ronald Reagan and Baroness Thatcher were photographed seated in the chairs. The Downing Street chairs were re-covered and gilded under the direction of The Rt. Hon. and Mrs. Tony Blair. The chairs can be seen in a virtual tour of the White Drawing Room on the Prime Minister's official website.
THE LINNELL ATTRIBUTION
This elegant suite, marked by its sophisticated classicism, is attributed to the pre-eminent London cabinet-maker, carver and designer John Linnell (d. 1796) as it closely relates to a drawing preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Linnell was a serious student of French ornament at the St. Martin's Lane Academy before working for his equally capable father, William. He eventually inherited the cabinet and upholstery workshops in fashionable Berkeley Square in 1763, employing some forty to fifty people. By the mid-1760s, Linnell displayed a growing interest in neo-classical form and ornament. His designs from this time reveal his interest in French design as well as the influence of the architect designer Robert Adam, who worked at many of the same houses as Linnell, such as Robert Child's Osterley Park, William Drake's Shardeloes, and Lord Scarsdale's Kedleston Hall. Portrait medallions feature on a number of notable Linnell designs for various forms including seat furniture, tables and mirrors, including the magnificent giltwood sofas supplied for the Drawing Room at Kedleston Hall in circa 1765 (H. Hayward, P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, 1980, vol. II, fig. 241-247) and a set of eight lyre-back armchairs for the Library at Osterley Park, circa 1768-69 (op.cit., fig. 71).
From 1768-1771, at the time the suite would have been ordered, the 2nd Earl of Halifax lived in No. 7 Grosvenor Square, near the Berkeley Square workshops of John Linnell.
THE PROVENANCE
These four chairs are part of a larger suite comprising at least eighteen armchairs, a pair of settees, a smaller settee and a matching fire screen almost certainly supplied to George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (d. 1771) for Stansted Park, Sussex.
Thence by descent to his daughter, Anna Donaldson (d. 1805), and remaining at Stansted among various owners until 1902 when the house was sold by George Wilder.
George Wilder, Esq. and removed from Stansted Park, Sussex, Christie's, London, 13 May 1911, lot 96 ( 609 = 580 gns. to Wills & Co [?]) (the lot with seventeen chairs).
Edward T. Stotesbury (d. 1938), Whitemarsh Hall, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, probably acquired through Joseph Duveen (eleven armchairs and two settees).
Anna Thomson Dodge, Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farm, Michigan, possibly acquired through Duveen.
The Late Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge, The Remaining Contents of Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Christie's on the Premises, 27-29 September 1971, lot 119 (eleven armchairs and the settee) [catalogued as Franco-Flemish] where purchased by the family of the present owner.
THE REMAINDER OF THE SUITE
The remaining pieces from the suite have been dispersed as follows:
-Six chairs and a settee: with Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex and sold in 1946 to the Ministry of Works; five of these chairs and the settee are presently at the residence of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London; the remaining chair was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
-A further chair: Colonel H. H. Mulliner, sold Christie's, London, 18 July 1924, lot 62.
-Six chairs and a sofa sold from the same private collection, Chistie's, New York, 23 October 2010, lots 105 - 108.
-One chair remains in the private collection.
EXHIBITED
Pennsylvania Museum (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art), Philadelphia, The Stotesbury Collection, 1932 (accession number 149-1932-1a-k).
The Huntington Library and Art Collections, San Marino, California, on public view in the Portrait Gallery, 1975-2005
LITERATURE
H. H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England, London, 1928, fig. 27.
D. Fitz-Gerald, Georgian Furniture, London, 1969, fig. 96.
Victoria and Albert Museum, English Chairs, London, 1970, no. 90.
H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II, figs. 84 and 85.
M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, 1982, pp. 112-113, no. N/9.
G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p. 176, fig. 2.
J. Charlton, No. 10 Downing Street, London, 1990, p. 16-17.
M. C. Kathrens, American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer, New York, 2002, p. 145 (shown in situ in the Gallery Hall at Whitemarsh Hall).
C. G. and E. C. Zwicker, Whitemarsh Hall: The Estate of Edward T. Stotesbury, Charleston, 2004, p. 56 (shown in situ at Whitemarsh).
A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIRS
ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN LINNELL, CIRCA 1765 - 70
Details
A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIRS
ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN LINNELL, CIRCA 1765 - 70
Each cartouche-shaped back carved with leaftips and trailing foliage, centred with a ribbon-tied portrait medallion and flanked by curved arms and an over-upholstered seat, covered in applied floral wool needlework on silk over a leaf-carved apron centered with a swag-draped urn on husk-carved square tapering legs, en suite with lot 182 (2)
ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN LINNELL, CIRCA 1765 - 70
Each cartouche-shaped back carved with leaftips and trailing foliage, centred with a ribbon-tied portrait medallion and flanked by curved arms and an over-upholstered seat, covered in applied floral wool needlework on silk over a leaf-carved apron centered with a swag-draped urn on husk-carved square tapering legs, en suite with lot 182 (2)
Provenance
These four chairs formed part of a larger suite comprising at least eighteen armchairs, a pair of settees, a smaller settee and a matching fire screen almost certainly supplied to George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (d. 1771) for Stansted Park, Sussex.
Thence by descent to his daughter, Anna Donaldson (d. 1805), and remaining at Stansted among various owners until 1902 when the house was sold by George Wilder.
George Wilder, Esq. and removed from Stansted Park, Sussex, Christie's, London, 13 May 1911, lot 96 (£ 609 = 580 gns. to Wills & Co [?]) (the lot with seventeen chairs).
Edward T. Stotesbury (d. 1938), Whitemarsh Hall, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, probably acquired through Joseph Duveen (eleven armchairs and two settees).
Anna Thomson Dodge, Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farm, Michigan.
The Late Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge, The Remaining Contents of Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Christie's on the Premises, 27-29 September 1971, lot 119 (eleven armchairs and the settee) [catalogued as Franco-Flemish] (bought by the present owner's family).
THE REMAINDER OF THE SUITE
The remaining pieces from the suite have been dispersed as follows:
-six chairs and a settee: with Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex and sold in 1946 to the Ministry of Works; five of these chairs and the settee are presently at the residence of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London; the remaining chair was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
-a further chair: Colonel H. H. Mulliner, sold Christie's, London, 18 July 1924, lot 62.
-One chair from the Dodge sale remains in a private collection.
-Six chairs and a settee sold Christie's, New York, 23 November 2010, lots 105-108.
Thence by descent to his daughter, Anna Donaldson (d. 1805), and remaining at Stansted among various owners until 1902 when the house was sold by George Wilder.
George Wilder, Esq. and removed from Stansted Park, Sussex, Christie's, London, 13 May 1911, lot 96 (£ 609 = 580 gns. to Wills & Co [?]) (the lot with seventeen chairs).
Edward T. Stotesbury (d. 1938), Whitemarsh Hall, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, probably acquired through Joseph Duveen (eleven armchairs and two settees).
Anna Thomson Dodge, Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farm, Michigan.
The Late Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge, The Remaining Contents of Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Christie's on the Premises, 27-29 September 1971, lot 119 (eleven armchairs and the settee) [catalogued as Franco-Flemish] (bought by the present owner's family).
THE REMAINDER OF THE SUITE
The remaining pieces from the suite have been dispersed as follows:
-six chairs and a settee: with Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex and sold in 1946 to the Ministry of Works; five of these chairs and the settee are presently at the residence of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London; the remaining chair was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
-a further chair: Colonel H. H. Mulliner, sold Christie's, London, 18 July 1924, lot 62.
-One chair from the Dodge sale remains in a private collection.
-Six chairs and a settee sold Christie's, New York, 23 November 2010, lots 105-108.
Literature
H. H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England , London, 1928, fig. 27. D. Fitz-Gerald, Georgian Furniture, London, 1969, fig. 96.
Victoria and Albert Museum, English Chairs, London, 1970, no. 90.
H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II, figs. 84 and 85.
M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, 1982, pp. 112-113, no. N/9.
G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p. 176, fig. 2.
J. Charlton, No. 10 Downing Street, London, 1990, p. 16-17.
M. C. Kathrens, American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer, New York, 2002, p. 145 (shown in situ in the Gallery Hall at Whitemarsh Hall).
C. G. and E. C. Zwicker, Whitemarsh Hall: The Estate of Edward T. Stotesbury, Charleston, 2004, p. 56 (shown in situ at Whitemarsh).
Victoria and Albert Museum, English Chairs, London, 1970, no. 90.
H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II, figs. 84 and 85.
M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, 1982, pp. 112-113, no. N/9.
G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p. 176, fig. 2.
J. Charlton, No. 10 Downing Street, London, 1990, p. 16-17.
M. C. Kathrens, American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer, New York, 2002, p. 145 (shown in situ in the Gallery Hall at Whitemarsh Hall).
C. G. and E. C. Zwicker, Whitemarsh Hall: The Estate of Edward T. Stotesbury, Charleston, 2004, p. 56 (shown in situ at Whitemarsh).
Exhibited
Pennsylvania Museum (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art), Philadelphia, The Stotesbury Collection, 1932 (accession number 149-1932-1a-k).
The Huntington Library and Art Collections, San Marino, California, on public view in the Portrait Gallery, 1975-2005.
The Huntington Library and Art Collections, San Marino, California, on public view in the Portrait Gallery, 1975-2005.
Sale room notice
This lot has been imported from outside the EU and should be market with a * in the catalogue.
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