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Lot Essay
The current pair of busts were illustrated in the Vestibule at Balls Park in Hertfordshire in October 1899 (Balls Park, loc. cit.). After the Townshends sold Balls Park in 1901 they transferred the busts to their ancestral home at Raynham Park in Norfolk, where they were photographed in the Entrance Hall in a Country Life article of July 18 1908 ('Raynham Hall' 1908, loc. cit.) and then again in November 21 1925 (Hussey, loc. cit.).
Balls Park came into the Townshend's ownership when Charles Townshend, Lord Lynn (1700-1764) married Audrey Harrison in May 1723. Audrey was descended from Sir John Harrison, a staunch Royalist ally of King Charles I who had acquired the Balls Park estate and built a new house around 1642-3. She inherited from her father Edward Harrison (1674-1732), who had been appointed the Governer of Madras in 1711. This official post made Harrison a wealthy man and enabled him to form a fine collection of Anglo-Indian ivory-inlaid furniture and works of art, and it is possible that it was he who first purchased the busts for Balls Park.
Balls Park came into the Townshend's ownership when Charles Townshend, Lord Lynn (1700-1764) married Audrey Harrison in May 1723. Audrey was descended from Sir John Harrison, a staunch Royalist ally of King Charles I who had acquired the Balls Park estate and built a new house around 1642-3. She inherited from her father Edward Harrison (1674-1732), who had been appointed the Governer of Madras in 1711. This official post made Harrison a wealthy man and enabled him to form a fine collection of Anglo-Indian ivory-inlaid furniture and works of art, and it is possible that it was he who first purchased the busts for Balls Park.