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Lot Essay
The design of these torcheres relates to a design for candlestands supplied by Thomas Chippendale in 1758 to Blair Castle, Perthshire, Scotland (Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, fig. 378). These baluster stems enriched with Roman foliage and Grecian palms also relate to bedposts supplied by Chippendale for Harewood House, Yorkshire (C. Gilbert, ibid., vol. II, fig. 49). However, the interpretation of some of the decorative schemes, such as the upside down gadroon to the top of the stem, and the use of exotic padouk wood, imply colonial manufacture.
A.C.J. Wall was a Birmingham industrialist who formed an extaordinary collection in the years immediately before and after the Second World War. Highlights of the collection included the magnificent Sheffield Park dining-chairs designed by James Wyatt (sold Christie's, London, 11 November 1999, lot 50), a carved mahogany commode from the same group as the Raynham Hall commode and a pair of library armchairs from a set with dolphin arm-terminals and feet (see P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924, vol. I, p. 240, fig. 103).
A.C.J. Wall was a Birmingham industrialist who formed an extaordinary collection in the years immediately before and after the Second World War. Highlights of the collection included the magnificent Sheffield Park dining-chairs designed by James Wyatt (sold Christie's, London, 11 November 1999, lot 50), a carved mahogany commode from the same group as the Raynham Hall commode and a pair of library armchairs from a set with dolphin arm-terminals and feet (see P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924, vol. I, p. 240, fig. 103).