Lot Essay
This settee is part of a suite from Wentworth Woodhouse of which a large part was sold in the sale in 1948 and a stool is lot 67 in the Wentworth sale on 8 July 1998 (see separate catalogue). The suite is now attributed to the Wakefield firm of Richard Wright and Edward Elwick who supplied large quantities of furniture to Wentworth Woodhouse in the 1750s and 1760s. The extensive use of solid mahogany in the construction of this suite, and in others of this model, is a feature of the construction of much of the furniture attributed to Wright and Elwick. The second element is the close derivation of the design of the legs from patterns for chair legs in Thomas Chippendale's Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director. Many of the Wright and Elwick's objects at Wentworth Woodhouse were closely dervived from Chippendale's design.
What were almost certainly the eight side chairs were sold again by the Hon. Mrs Brian Rootes, in these Rooms, 8 February 1973, lot 483. The following lot in the 1948 sale was three armchairs of this pattern: these are almost certainly the pair exhibited by Norman Adams at the Antique Dealers' Fair that year and possibly also the single armchair sold without provenance from the Henle collection, Sotheby's London, 6 February 1998, lot 91.
A suite of exactly the same model was first recorded at Hackwood Park, Hampshire in 1905. Three side chairs were sold in the Hackwood Park house sale, 20-22 April 1998, lots 119-120. The suite was not recorded in the 18th Century inventories of Hackwood and the sale catalogue speculated that it might have come from the 5th Duke of Bolton's London house. In the light of the Wentworth Woodhouse connection, it seems more likely the Hackwood suite came from Bolton Hall, the Bolton family's seat in Yorkshire, and that both suites were supplied by Wright and Elwick. In 1905, the year of the inventory at Hackwood in which they are first recorded, the Bolton family had recently been in residence at Hackwood following a fire at Bolton Hall. A move of some furniture seems likely.
What were almost certainly the eight side chairs were sold again by the Hon. Mrs Brian Rootes, in these Rooms, 8 February 1973, lot 483. The following lot in the 1948 sale was three armchairs of this pattern: these are almost certainly the pair exhibited by Norman Adams at the Antique Dealers' Fair that year and possibly also the single armchair sold without provenance from the Henle collection, Sotheby's London, 6 February 1998, lot 91.
A suite of exactly the same model was first recorded at Hackwood Park, Hampshire in 1905. Three side chairs were sold in the Hackwood Park house sale, 20-22 April 1998, lots 119-120. The suite was not recorded in the 18th Century inventories of Hackwood and the sale catalogue speculated that it might have come from the 5th Duke of Bolton's London house. In the light of the Wentworth Woodhouse connection, it seems more likely the Hackwood suite came from Bolton Hall, the Bolton family's seat in Yorkshire, and that both suites were supplied by Wright and Elwick. In 1905, the year of the inventory at Hackwood in which they are first recorded, the Bolton family had recently been in residence at Hackwood following a fire at Bolton Hall. A move of some furniture seems likely.