IN THE MANNER OF ROBERT ADAM, LATE 18TH CENTURY

This pair of wall appliques is undoubtedly inspired by the designs of the architect Robert Adam (d. 1791). Adam established his practice in Grosvenor Square in 1759 having spent five years in Rome studying architecture under Giovanni Battista Piranesi among others. Under George III he was promoted to Architect to the King's Board of Works and by 1763 he was at the height of his powers, recognised as the most fashionable architect of his generation and the leading proponent of the neo-classical style, still in its infancy in England. He was employed at many of the most prominent houses including Syon House, Middlesex, Harewood House, Yorkshire, and Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire and he invented many of the most iconic and recognisable furniture designs of the 18th century.

A series of designs by Adam for girandoles feature circular, oval or rectangular tablets with classical figures, combined with plateaux and urns, arranged in strictly rectilinear fashion and wreathed with foliage and husks. These were intended for Derby House, 1774, and Apsley House, 1778 (Eileen Harris, The Furniture of Robert Adam, London, 1963, p.88 and ills. 93 - 95. A design for girandoles for the 'eating-room' at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, dated 1782, features a closely related roundel displaying putti (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 330, fig. 492) and another girandole at Culzean designed by Adam is illustrated in P. MacQuoid, R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, vol. III, p.53, fig. 23.