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Lot Essay
THE EARLY PROVENANCE
These hall chairs were originally part of a set of eight chairs at the Surrey ancestral seat of the Viscounts Midleton at Peper Harow (Peper Harrow). ‘A Pair of Mahogany Hall Chairs with crest emblazoned on panels’ was recorded in the ‘Inner Hall’ and ‘6 Mahogany Hall Chairs with Crest emblazoned on white panels’ in the ‘Entrance Hall and Portico’ in the inventory for the mansion taken in 1851 by Farebrother, Clark & Lye, London. In 1925, and again in 1956, part of the set was photographed by Country Life in the hall (Tipping, op. cit.; Hussey, op. cit.). Three pairs of these hall chairs sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 2004, lots 304; lot 305; lot 306.
George Broderick, 4th Viscount Midleton (1754-1836) inherited the title and English and Irish estates upon the death of his father in 1765. As a minor in this period, he was just eleven years old, his mother, Albinia, the Dowager Lady Midleton, and daughter of the Hon. Thomas Townshend, managed the estate until he came of age in 1775. Alterations to Peper Harow had begun during the tenure of the 4th Viscount’s father, George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (1730-65), continued for two years after his death (in this period managed by Albinia), and recommenced apace between 1773-76. Throughout, the Scottish-Swedish architect, William Chambers (1723-96), from 1769–82 Comptroller of the King's Works, was responsible for the exterior and interior refurbishment. Chambers self-acclaimed that ‘he was a Very pretty Connoisseur in furniture’, and exercised very close supervision in the matter of decorative arts.
MAYHEW & INCE
These hall chairs are attributed to the preeminent London firm of John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (1737-1834) based on their proximity of design to a set of eight virtually identical but painted chairs that share the distinctive roundel and fluted seat-rail design at Broadlands, Hampshire (H. Roberts, ‘The Ince and Mayhew Connection: Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire – I’, Country Life, 29 January 1981, p. 289, fig. 6). Although no furniture bills exist for Broadlands, they form part of a collection of furniture identified as by Mayhew & Ince, and were in the Great Hall from at least 1786, when they were listed in a household inventory (ibid., p. 288).
Although the Midleton/Peper Harow household accounts, which might have listed payments to cabinet-makers are missing for the 4th Viscount, correspondence between Albinia and Chambers, and her extant accounts suggest that Chambers subcontracted out work to craftsmen, and it was Chambers, who acted as paymaster on these projects. The bank customer ledgers for Chambers at Drummonds bank show he was regularly employing the same craftsmen including Mayhew & Ince: in 1766, to ‘Ince & Co.’; in 1771, ‘Receipt Mayhew on Croft & Co 300’ (J. Harris, Sir William Chambers: Knight of the Polar Star, London, 1970, pp. 175-176). Certainly, Mayhew was engaged in the period during Chambers’s extensive commission for the 4th Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace beginning in late 1769 (ibid., p. 199). Furthermore, Mayhew is recorded in Albinia’s ‘My Children’s Acc’t’ in February 1767 when he supplied a bed so the firm was evidently known to the family from an early date. The present chairs may have been executed by the specialist carver, Sefferin Alken (fl. 1744-83) in the employ of Mayhew & Ince. Alken likewise collaborated with Chambers at Blenheim, and was employed by London’s top cabinet-makers including John Cobb at Croome Court (also a Mayhew & Ince commission), where his work was accounted for on Cobb’s invoice: ‘carving all the arms and front feet, all the rest carved by Mr. Alken’.
Another set of these distinctive chairs sold ‘the Myddelton Family, Chirk Castle, Christie’s house sale, 21 June 2004, lot 54, and later as two pairs, Christie’s, London, 10 May 2006, lots 90 (£10,800 including premium) and 91 (£13,200 inc. prem.). A further set of this model was photographed by Country Life at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, period IV, vol. II, London, 1927, p. 35).
These hall chairs were originally part of a set of eight chairs at the Surrey ancestral seat of the Viscounts Midleton at Peper Harow (Peper Harrow). ‘A Pair of Mahogany Hall Chairs with crest emblazoned on panels’ was recorded in the ‘Inner Hall’ and ‘6 Mahogany Hall Chairs with Crest emblazoned on white panels’ in the ‘Entrance Hall and Portico’ in the inventory for the mansion taken in 1851 by Farebrother, Clark & Lye, London. In 1925, and again in 1956, part of the set was photographed by Country Life in the hall (Tipping, op. cit.; Hussey, op. cit.). Three pairs of these hall chairs sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 2004, lots 304; lot 305; lot 306.
George Broderick, 4th Viscount Midleton (1754-1836) inherited the title and English and Irish estates upon the death of his father in 1765. As a minor in this period, he was just eleven years old, his mother, Albinia, the Dowager Lady Midleton, and daughter of the Hon. Thomas Townshend, managed the estate until he came of age in 1775. Alterations to Peper Harow had begun during the tenure of the 4th Viscount’s father, George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (1730-65), continued for two years after his death (in this period managed by Albinia), and recommenced apace between 1773-76. Throughout, the Scottish-Swedish architect, William Chambers (1723-96), from 1769–82 Comptroller of the King's Works, was responsible for the exterior and interior refurbishment. Chambers self-acclaimed that ‘he was a Very pretty Connoisseur in furniture’, and exercised very close supervision in the matter of decorative arts.
MAYHEW & INCE
These hall chairs are attributed to the preeminent London firm of John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (1737-1834) based on their proximity of design to a set of eight virtually identical but painted chairs that share the distinctive roundel and fluted seat-rail design at Broadlands, Hampshire (H. Roberts, ‘The Ince and Mayhew Connection: Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire – I’, Country Life, 29 January 1981, p. 289, fig. 6). Although no furniture bills exist for Broadlands, they form part of a collection of furniture identified as by Mayhew & Ince, and were in the Great Hall from at least 1786, when they were listed in a household inventory (ibid., p. 288).
Although the Midleton/Peper Harow household accounts, which might have listed payments to cabinet-makers are missing for the 4th Viscount, correspondence between Albinia and Chambers, and her extant accounts suggest that Chambers subcontracted out work to craftsmen, and it was Chambers, who acted as paymaster on these projects. The bank customer ledgers for Chambers at Drummonds bank show he was regularly employing the same craftsmen including Mayhew & Ince: in 1766, to ‘Ince & Co.’; in 1771, ‘Receipt Mayhew on Croft & Co 300’ (J. Harris, Sir William Chambers: Knight of the Polar Star, London, 1970, pp. 175-176). Certainly, Mayhew was engaged in the period during Chambers’s extensive commission for the 4th Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace beginning in late 1769 (ibid., p. 199). Furthermore, Mayhew is recorded in Albinia’s ‘My Children’s Acc’t’ in February 1767 when he supplied a bed so the firm was evidently known to the family from an early date. The present chairs may have been executed by the specialist carver, Sefferin Alken (fl. 1744-83) in the employ of Mayhew & Ince. Alken likewise collaborated with Chambers at Blenheim, and was employed by London’s top cabinet-makers including John Cobb at Croome Court (also a Mayhew & Ince commission), where his work was accounted for on Cobb’s invoice: ‘carving all the arms and front feet, all the rest carved by Mr. Alken’.
Another set of these distinctive chairs sold ‘the Myddelton Family, Chirk Castle, Christie’s house sale, 21 June 2004, lot 54, and later as two pairs, Christie’s, London, 10 May 2006, lots 90 (£10,800 including premium) and 91 (£13,200 inc. prem.). A further set of this model was photographed by Country Life at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, period IV, vol. II, London, 1927, p. 35).