CIRCA 1745

This impressive pine and lime pedestal relates closely to an example almost certainly supplied by Benjamin Goodison in 1743 for Althorp, Northamptonshire, home of the Earls of Spencer (see fig. 1). The pedestal, which now supports a marble bust of Charles le Brun by Antoine Coysevox, is thought to have originally been intended for the Van Dyck bust by John Michael Rysbrack, which remains at Althorp. Goodison was employed by the Spencers to complete inventories of their houses in 1746; as such it is probable that he supplied a quantity of furniture prior to this date (see P.Thornton and J.Hardy, 'The Spencer Furniture at Althorp', Apollo, March 1968, pp.179-189). The size and proportion of the offered pedestal would suggest that it was intended to support a similarly large sculpture or bust.