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Lot Essay
This magnificent library armchair is part of a suite that was reputedly supplied to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey for Walcot, his principal home in Shropshire.
Robert Clive (1725-1774), commonly known as 'Clive of India,' was the military genius who consolidated the British position in India and laid the foundations for the British Raj. Reputedly the wealthiest man in England, he purchased Walcot and its 80,000 acre park in 1764, and commissioned the royal architect Sir William Chambers (d.1796) to redesign the house entirely. Chambers spared no expense and employed master craftsmen to create the interiors. Intriguingly, his work at Walcot coincides with another of his commissions, Pembroke House, where he is known to have collaborated with Thomas Chippendale. The two men worked together again in 1774 at Melbourne House.
A Chippendale attribution is tempting, particularly as the design of the chairs adheres closely to a 'French Chair' pattern published in his Director, 1754 (plate XX). However, the set lacks constructional elements typically used by Chippendale such as cramp cuts although it does feature batten carrying holes. This opens up the possibility that they are the work of an equally talented but currently unknown maker. One candidate presents itself in a documented suite of seat furniture commissioned by Clive for his Berkeley Square townhouse in the 1760's which has since been attributed to the London cabinet-maker Charles Arbuckle of St. Alban's Street, Pall Mall. This suite shares the same profile and scale but differs in its more flatly carved crestrail ending in distinct corners as well as scrolled feet. (O. Fairclough, "In the Richest and Most Elegant Manner; A Suite of Furniture for Clive of India," Furniture History, 2000). Some of this suite remains at another Clive residence, Powis Castle, and part was sold from the Collection of Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg; Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 268.
The Walcot connection was first cited when a pair from the set was sold at auction by Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in 1936 but subsequent research in the Clive archives has yet to find concrete documentation. Walcot inventories of 1788, 1830 and 1904 contain no mention of the suite nor do they appear in the sale of the effects of Walcot which Harrods held from 22-26 July 1929. However, household inventories in the 18th and 19th centuries are frequently incomplete, and as with the Bruton Square suite moving to Powis, it is very likely that considerably more furniture moved between the Clive's various homes which also included three further residences in Shropshire: Styche Hall which was his original family seat, Claremont and Oakley Park.
It would now appear that there were at least twelve chairs in the suite. Many of these have had their frames stripped of their original gilding, stained and polished; the majority is covered in 18th century needlework. The suite comprises:
1. The present chair (and its pair, retained by the Art Institute), 'originally covered in tapestry with bouquets of flowers and urns or baskets'
2. Two pairs with needlework panels:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 766 (needlework depicting figures playing cards and youths by a stream); and lot 767 (needlework depicting a gentleman and ladies playing cards or a courting scene with horn-playing musician).
The latter pair was later sold:
Baron and Baroness Carl von Seidlitz; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3 May 1947, lot 110.
A New York Estate; Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 93 ($556,000).
4. A pair with needlework panels:
With Edward I. Farmer, Inc., New York.
Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc, New York, 14 March 1959, lot 114 (needlework depicting figures in a garden setting or reveling dancers).
5. A pair, with Messrs. Dawson & Co., New York (originally a set of six).
With Symon's Galleries, Inc., New York (illustrated in J. Aronson, The Book of Furniture and Decoration: Period and Modern, New York, 1936, plate opposite p.112). Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt; Anderson Art Galleries, New York, 31 January-1 February 1936, lot 405. Anonymous Sale; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 19-21 February, 1942, lot 489. Anonymous Sale; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1-2 February 1952, lot 354. Now in a private collection, New York.
6. According to the 1943 Mesker catalogue entry (see #2 above), six chairs from the suite had been with Messrs. Dawson & Co. (15 East 17th Street, New York). One pair was the Gloria Vanderbilt pair, which is now in a private collection (#5). The second pair could be the 1959 Cunningham chairs (#4) and the 'missing' third pair could be one of two pairs that have recently surfaced at auction. Which means the non-Dawson pair is a newly discovered addition: the pair from a distinguished private collection, sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 October 2010, lot 216 ($194,500). Or another pair (later gilt) sold from a private collector, Christie's, New York, 14-15 April 2011, lot 558 ($308,500).
Robert Clive (1725-1774), commonly known as 'Clive of India,' was the military genius who consolidated the British position in India and laid the foundations for the British Raj. Reputedly the wealthiest man in England, he purchased Walcot and its 80,000 acre park in 1764, and commissioned the royal architect Sir William Chambers (d.1796) to redesign the house entirely. Chambers spared no expense and employed master craftsmen to create the interiors. Intriguingly, his work at Walcot coincides with another of his commissions, Pembroke House, where he is known to have collaborated with Thomas Chippendale. The two men worked together again in 1774 at Melbourne House.
A Chippendale attribution is tempting, particularly as the design of the chairs adheres closely to a 'French Chair' pattern published in his Director, 1754 (plate XX). However, the set lacks constructional elements typically used by Chippendale such as cramp cuts although it does feature batten carrying holes. This opens up the possibility that they are the work of an equally talented but currently unknown maker. One candidate presents itself in a documented suite of seat furniture commissioned by Clive for his Berkeley Square townhouse in the 1760's which has since been attributed to the London cabinet-maker Charles Arbuckle of St. Alban's Street, Pall Mall. This suite shares the same profile and scale but differs in its more flatly carved crestrail ending in distinct corners as well as scrolled feet. (O. Fairclough, "In the Richest and Most Elegant Manner; A Suite of Furniture for Clive of India," Furniture History, 2000). Some of this suite remains at another Clive residence, Powis Castle, and part was sold from the Collection of Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg; Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 2000, lot 268.
The Walcot connection was first cited when a pair from the set was sold at auction by Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in 1936 but subsequent research in the Clive archives has yet to find concrete documentation. Walcot inventories of 1788, 1830 and 1904 contain no mention of the suite nor do they appear in the sale of the effects of Walcot which Harrods held from 22-26 July 1929. However, household inventories in the 18th and 19th centuries are frequently incomplete, and as with the Bruton Square suite moving to Powis, it is very likely that considerably more furniture moved between the Clive's various homes which also included three further residences in Shropshire: Styche Hall which was his original family seat, Claremont and Oakley Park.
It would now appear that there were at least twelve chairs in the suite. Many of these have had their frames stripped of their original gilding, stained and polished; the majority is covered in 18th century needlework. The suite comprises:
1. The present chair (and its pair, retained by the Art Institute), 'originally covered in tapestry with bouquets of flowers and urns or baskets'
2. Two pairs with needlework panels:
With Charles of London, New York.
Mrs. George L. Mesker, 'La Fontana', Palm Beach, Florida; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 27-30 October 1943, lot 766 (needlework depicting figures playing cards and youths by a stream); and lot 767 (needlework depicting a gentleman and ladies playing cards or a courting scene with horn-playing musician).
The latter pair was later sold:
Baron and Baroness Carl von Seidlitz; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3 May 1947, lot 110.
A New York Estate; Christie's, New York, 13 April 2000, lot 93 ($556,000).
4. A pair with needlework panels:
With Edward I. Farmer, Inc., New York.
Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc, New York, 14 March 1959, lot 114 (needlework depicting figures in a garden setting or reveling dancers).
5. A pair, with Messrs. Dawson & Co., New York (originally a set of six).
With Symon's Galleries, Inc., New York (illustrated in J. Aronson, The Book of Furniture and Decoration: Period and Modern, New York, 1936, plate opposite p.112). Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt; Anderson Art Galleries, New York, 31 January-1 February 1936, lot 405. Anonymous Sale; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 19-21 February, 1942, lot 489. Anonymous Sale; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1-2 February 1952, lot 354. Now in a private collection, New York.
6. According to the 1943 Mesker catalogue entry (see #2 above), six chairs from the suite had been with Messrs. Dawson & Co. (15 East 17th Street, New York). One pair was the Gloria Vanderbilt pair, which is now in a private collection (#5). The second pair could be the 1959 Cunningham chairs (#4) and the 'missing' third pair could be one of two pairs that have recently surfaced at auction. Which means the non-Dawson pair is a newly discovered addition: the pair from a distinguished private collection, sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 October 2010, lot 216 ($194,500). Or another pair (later gilt) sold from a private collector, Christie's, New York, 14-15 April 2011, lot 558 ($308,500).