COUNTRY HOUSE DISCOVERIES 'He seldom attended the sales at country houses, probably because he felt their dispersals too painfully, but objects from these great collections found their way to his Ampthill house. He recalled, but did not attend the Wrest Park sale of 1917, the Deepdene sale of the same year, the Stowe sale of four years later and those of Cassiobury, Beau Desert, Hornby Castle, Rufford Abbey, Hartwell, Sandridgebury and Kimbolton. From the Deepdene collections came gilt wall-lights that Thomas Hope has illustrated in his book of Household Taste in 1807, books from the ducal library at Stowe, torchéres from Hornby and paintings from Lord Savile's Rufford Abbey.' 'Nearer at home there was the problem of Woburn Abbey which had been occupied by the services during the war and had been left in an uninhabitable state. The Duke of Bedford, an elderly and difficult eccentric, who my grandfather had known for some years, decided to demolish the east side of the house in 1950 and did so hurriedly without consulting the experts. My grandfather was called in by the Ministry of Works to save what remained of the truncated ranges and give the eastern ends of the mansion something of their former dignity. This proved as difficult as the rest of his post-war work, materials were scarce and it was impossible to obtain adequate licenses to use what timber and stone there was. S. Houfe, The Professor

A GEORGE III PENWORK, SYCAMORE, FRUITWOOD AND BOXWOOD-INLAID MAHOGANY TABLE

CIRCA 1780

Details

A GEORGE III PENWORK, SYCAMORE, FRUITWOOD AND BOXWOOD-INLAID MAHOGANY TABLE
CIRCA 1780
The hinged domed top, inlaid to the centre with a ribbon-tied posy, enclosing a polished interior, the frieze inlaid with swags and paterae on tapering square legs and castors, with printed paper label 'PROPERTY OF/EARL CADOGAN, K.G.'
34½ in. (88 cm.) high; 32 in. (82 cm.) wide; 20½ in. (52 cm.) deep

Provenance

Almost certainly George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan (1840-1915), Culford Park, Suffolk.

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Lot Essay

The 5th Earl Cadogan was a distinguished politician whose appointments included Lord Privy Seal and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He bought Culford Park, Suffolk, in 1889 which he commissioned William Young to remodel for him in the Italian style, the estate was sold in 1933 following the death of the 6th Earl and the contents dispersed.

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