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Lot Essay
The portable writing slope was almost certainly among the exceptional group of ivory-inlaid and rosewood furniture that belonged to Audrey, Lady Townshend (d.1788), wife of Charles, 3rd Viscount Townshend of Raynham Hall, Norfolk. Some of this furniture was inherited from her father, Edward Harrison (d.1732), former Governor of Madras, other pieces were possibly acquired through her brother-in-law, the Honourable Augustus Townshend (d.1746), an East India Company sea captain who sailed the 'China Trade' via India on his ship the 'Augusta'. A fine bureau-cabinet and a dressing-table of similar character were sold Christie's, London, 'The Exceptional Sale', 7 July 2011, lots 14 and 15 respectively.
Much of Lady Townshend's collection of Anglo-Indian furniture was bequeathed to her eldest son, George, 1st Marquess Townshend (d.1807), and thence by descent to his son, George, 2nd Marquess Townshend (d.1811). An inventory dated August 1811 for Lansdowne House, Richmond Hill, a property leased from the 1790s-1811 by the 2nd Marquess, contains at least ten items of Anglo-Indian furniture including three 'Bureau Portable Writing Desk' (An Inventory of furniture, fixtures &tc Taken on the Premises, Richmond Hill the Property of the late Marquis of Townshend - July 1811, PRO Ms. C107/39). The presnt lot is most likely the writing-slope in 'His Lordship's Bed Room', described as 'Inlaid Rosewood & Ivory' and 'fitted up with Drawer'.
Vizagapatam was renowned for its cabinet-making industry which combined western forms with Indian ornamentation inspired by Coromandel chintzes, in particular inlaying wood with a profusion of distinctive floral designs in ivory, the ivory being boldly engraved and highlighted with lac (Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon: A catalogue of the Collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum, 2001, pp. 172-175). Writing- slopes and boxes for the storage of pen and paper were a prerequisite for East India Company officials and merchants stationed in India.
A closely related writing-slope of circa 1725-50, is in the Clive Collection at Powis Castle (Treasures from India, London, 1987, p. 82, fig. 103).
Another similar work-box is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, illustrated in A. Jaffer (p. 188, fig. 39). Other similar boxes have been sold in 'Le Gout Steinitz, III', Christie's, London, 6 December 2007, lot 397 (£5,000 including premium) and Sotheby's, London, 22 November 2006, lot 232 (£15,600 including premium).
Much of Lady Townshend's collection of Anglo-Indian furniture was bequeathed to her eldest son, George, 1st Marquess Townshend (d.1807), and thence by descent to his son, George, 2nd Marquess Townshend (d.1811). An inventory dated August 1811 for Lansdowne House, Richmond Hill, a property leased from the 1790s-1811 by the 2nd Marquess, contains at least ten items of Anglo-Indian furniture including three 'Bureau Portable Writing Desk' (An Inventory of furniture, fixtures &tc Taken on the Premises, Richmond Hill the Property of the late Marquis of Townshend - July 1811, PRO Ms. C107/39). The presnt lot is most likely the writing-slope in 'His Lordship's Bed Room', described as 'Inlaid Rosewood & Ivory' and 'fitted up with Drawer'.
Vizagapatam was renowned for its cabinet-making industry which combined western forms with Indian ornamentation inspired by Coromandel chintzes, in particular inlaying wood with a profusion of distinctive floral designs in ivory, the ivory being boldly engraved and highlighted with lac (Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon: A catalogue of the Collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum, 2001, pp. 172-175). Writing- slopes and boxes for the storage of pen and paper were a prerequisite for East India Company officials and merchants stationed in India.
A closely related writing-slope of circa 1725-50, is in the Clive Collection at Powis Castle (Treasures from India, London, 1987, p. 82, fig. 103).
Another similar work-box is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, illustrated in A. Jaffer (p. 188, fig. 39). Other similar boxes have been sold in 'Le Gout Steinitz, III', Christie's, London, 6 December 2007, lot 397 (£5,000 including premium) and Sotheby's, London, 22 November 2006, lot 232 (£15,600 including premium).