CIRCA 1800, IN THE MANNER OF CHARLES HEATHCOTE TATHAM

Details

A PAIR OF REGENCY GILTWOOD LION MONOPODIAE
CIRCA 1800, IN THE MANNER OF CHARLES HEATHCOTE TATHAM
Each with a naturalistically carved lion-mask with an acanthus carved breast trailed with husks, above a massive lion's paw monopodiae and ebonised stepped square plinth, originally supports for a table, the original gilding flaking
31½ in. (80 cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Almost certainly commissioned by George Tennyson (d.1835), Bayons Manor, Lincolnshire.
Thence by descent to the Rt. Hon. Charles Tennyson D'Eyencourt and by descent until sold at Dreweatt Neate, Newbury, 25 May 1994, lot 61 (when they supported later tops).

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis This lot is subject to Collection and Storage charges

Lot Essay

Designed in the 'antique' Roman manner, these Bacchic lion monopodiae reflect the influence of the architect Charles Heathcote Tatham. Whilst sketching in Rome on the Grand Tour, Tatham drew a 'Grand antique Tazza with rich ornamental feet of the finest execution, in verde antico senato marble...Copied from the originals in the Museum of the Vatican. 1795. Rome', and this prototype for these monopodiae subsequently featured in his Etchings of Ancient Ornamental Architecture drawn from originals in Rome and Other Parts of Italy during the years 1794, 1795 and 1796.

Bayons Manor was purchased by George Tennyson, lawyer, entrepreneur and grandfather of the famous Poet Laureate, at the end of the 18th Century. He immediately set about the enlargement of the existing house in the fashionable Regency style, and it was doubtless at this stage that the pair of lion monopodiae supports, originally for a marble topped console table, were supplied. Shortly before his death in 1835, Tennyson disinherited his eldest son George (father of the poet) in favour of his younger son Charles, who added the name d'Eyencourt to his name and subsequently embarked on a massive re-modelling of the house in the high Gothic Revival taste. The monopodiae are thought to have been removed into storage at that time.

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