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Lot Essay
The 3rd Marquess of Londonderry would undoubtedly have been familiar with the bold interiors
of Carlton House, which included much antiquarian ‘Boulle’ furniture and which no doubt would
have inspired some of the purchases he would make on the continent. This bureau was remodeled
and embellished in the late 18th century, quite some time before it would have been purchased by
Lord Londonderry. This must however have been a relatively early purchase for Londonderry (then Lord
Stewart) as it appears in a watercolour portrait of Lady Stewart (later Marchioness of Londonderry),
dated 1820. Stewart was then serving as British Ambassador to the Court of Francis I in Vienna, and
the watercolour shows the interior of the British Embassy; the fact that his new bride chose it to be
included in the painting may suggest that it was acquired by her as she and her new husband passed
through Paris in 1819 en route to Vienna. Lord and Lady Londonderry purchased a great many works of
art during their time in Vienna, so much so that when they returned to London in 1822 they insured
the shipment of their chattels for an astonishing £40,000. This bureau would almost certainly have been
part of that shipment as would the pair of inlaid marble table tops, lot 464. Interestingly Chippendale
also employed apparently identical ram’s-mask angle mounts on a marquetry commode supplied to
Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (d. 1795) for Harewood House, Yorkshire in 1770-72; the Harewood
mounts would have almost certainly been acquired in France at about the time this bureau was remodelled.
of Carlton House, which included much antiquarian ‘Boulle’ furniture and which no doubt would
have inspired some of the purchases he would make on the continent. This bureau was remodeled
and embellished in the late 18th century, quite some time before it would have been purchased by
Lord Londonderry. This must however have been a relatively early purchase for Londonderry (then Lord
Stewart) as it appears in a watercolour portrait of Lady Stewart (later Marchioness of Londonderry),
dated 1820. Stewart was then serving as British Ambassador to the Court of Francis I in Vienna, and
the watercolour shows the interior of the British Embassy; the fact that his new bride chose it to be
included in the painting may suggest that it was acquired by her as she and her new husband passed
through Paris in 1819 en route to Vienna. Lord and Lady Londonderry purchased a great many works of
art during their time in Vienna, so much so that when they returned to London in 1822 they insured
the shipment of their chattels for an astonishing £40,000. This bureau would almost certainly have been
part of that shipment as would the pair of inlaid marble table tops, lot 464. Interestingly Chippendale
also employed apparently identical ram’s-mask angle mounts on a marquetry commode supplied to
Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (d. 1795) for Harewood House, Yorkshire in 1770-72; the Harewood
mounts would have almost certainly been acquired in France at about the time this bureau was remodelled.