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Lot Essay
The bacchic-lion monopodia supports of this sofa derive from the suite of eight drawing room chairs commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Litchfield (d. 1741) for Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire. The chairs, together with a half settee, originally upholstered in crimson silk damask, are listed in the 1743 inventory in the Drawing Room to the right of the Salon; the contents including three tapestry hangings valued at £143 13s. The suite was designed under the direction of the Earl's architect, Henry Flitcroft (d. 1769), to harmonise with the Palladian architecture of the state appartments, whose banqueting hall ceiling featured 'A Council of the Gods' painted by the architect-designer, William Kent (d. 1748) (J. Cornforth, 'Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire - I', Country Life, 17 November 1988, p. 104). The stucco spandrels of this trompe l'oeil occulus were embellished with festive bacchic lions emerging from roman foliage in the 'arabesque' manner.
The upholstered furniture has been credited to William Bradshaw (d. 1775), cabinet-maker, upholsterer and 'tapissier' of Greek Street, Soho, who acted as the Earl's upholsterer, and in 1736 supplied related carved and gilded seat-furniture and a stand for a japanned chest, to Chevening, Kent.
Six of the chairs were sold from Ditchley by the Executors of Harold Arthur, 17th Viscount Dillon, Sotheby's London, 26 May 1933, lot 145, subsequently sold by Lady Anne Tree, Christie's, London, 23 May 1968, lot 114 and again, 27 June 1985, lot 184.
The remaining pair sold Christie's, London, 7 July 1994, lot 60.
The half settee was not recorded in any sale and it is likely that it was separated from the remainder of the suite in the 19th century, possibly changing hands in the meantime, without being identified as connected with its original context.
The upholstered furniture has been credited to William Bradshaw (d. 1775), cabinet-maker, upholsterer and 'tapissier' of Greek Street, Soho, who acted as the Earl's upholsterer, and in 1736 supplied related carved and gilded seat-furniture and a stand for a japanned chest, to Chevening, Kent.
Six of the chairs were sold from Ditchley by the Executors of Harold Arthur, 17th Viscount Dillon, Sotheby's London, 26 May 1933, lot 145, subsequently sold by Lady Anne Tree, Christie's, London, 23 May 1968, lot 114 and again, 27 June 1985, lot 184.
The remaining pair sold Christie's, London, 7 July 1994, lot 60.
The half settee was not recorded in any sale and it is likely that it was separated from the remainder of the suite in the 19th century, possibly changing hands in the meantime, without being identified as connected with its original context.