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Lot Essay
This splendidly carved pair of chairs, featuring bacchic-lion monopodia emerging from the acanthus foliage of their legs, is from a set of eight commissioned by George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (1690-1743) for Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire. They were designed under the direction of two of the Hanoverian reign’s leading architect-designers William Kent (1685-1748) and Henry Flitcroft (1697-1769) to harmonize with the Palladian architecture and decoration of the principal apartments. The 1743 inventory records these gilded chairs in the drawing room, describing them as 'back-stools', and, together with a half settee, as upholstered in crimson silk damask with shalloon covers (J. Cornforth, Early Georgian Interiors, New Haven, 2004, p. 293). The upholstered furniture for this tapestry-hung apartment has been credited to William Bradshaw (d. 1775), cabinet-maker, upholsterer, and tapissier of Greek Street, Soho, who acted as the Earl's upholsterer during the second phase of work toward completing Ditchley, and supplied a closely related set of eight giltwood chairs of similar proportions and style but with satyr masks at the knees for Chevening, Kent in 1736 (A. Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture: 1715-1740, Woodbridge, 1988, p.183, pl.4:80). Unfortunately there is limited evidence to shed light on the role of the upholsterer in the early Georgian period, and the complexity of how furniture was acquired during this time makes a precise workshop attribution very challenging. It is conceivable that after Bradshaw received the order based on designs by Kent and Flitcroft, he then gave the commission to another master carver or furniture-maker to carry out (P. Patris, ‘Recreating the Context of the Met Side Table’, Furniture History Society Newsletter, no.218, May 2020, pp.6-7). Indeed, records show that in addition to supplying furniture to Chevening, he also organized joiners, painters, and japanners. Further archival documentation points to his various collaborations with craftsmen such as James Richards, John Howard, John Boson, Matthias Lock, William Hallett, and Benjamin Goodison throughout his career, and yet, details of how he and other upholsterers went about employing such men are sparse (Cornforth, op. cit., p. 80). Moreover, it is worth noting the striking constructional similarities between these chairs and another related set of chairs commissioned to furnish the main state apartment at Houghton Hall in Norfolk [V&A W.25:1-2002]. Both the Ditchley and Houghton chairs have drop-in beech upholstered sub-frames resting on pine battens and also share the same base cloth and original webbing, which maintain the same stripes, suggesting they were made, or at least upholstered, in the same workshop. It is unlikely a coincidence that the interiors of Houghton, like Ditchley, were decorated and furnished via William Kent and Henry Flitcroft. It seems gilded seat furniture such as these examples were inextricably connected to the overall composition of certain rooms, which often also incorporated an architectural gilding scheme. Furthermore, the use of silk materials, as was used for these chairs, was also correlated with the use of gilding; the luxurious selections collectively intended to convey a ‘strong sense of parade’ (Cornforth, op. cit., pp.124-127).
When considering the present lot in the context of the Getty Collection, they are perfectly concomitant as a representative of the balance between architecture and decoration that was newly achieved in early 18th century England. This balance is characterized by the understanding that in addition to interior and furniture designs, the role of tapestries, picture collections, wall hangings, window curtains, and needleworks were all integral to the role of the equally important ‘upholstery’ in creating a sense of unity as well as richness of texture, pattern, and color within a space. Such an understanding was not only acknowledged but masterfully accomplished throughout the Getty’s interiors.
20TH CENTURY PROVENANCE
Ditchley Park remained in the Lee-Dillon family for over two centuries until it was sold to Nancy Tree (later Lancaster) and her then husband Ronald Tree in 1933. Unlike many great houses, it was not subjected to 19th century alterations, thus remaining almost entirely Georgian in style with its grandeur and centuries of history intact. When the Trees purchased Ditchley they acquired much of the original furniture as well, considering it integral to the historical significance of the house and thus irreplaceable. In Nancy’s biography she claims they bought the house with everything, ‘lock, stock, and barrel’ (B. Robert, Nancy Lancaster: Her Life, Her World, Her Art, New York, 1996, pp.197-198). However, two from the original set of eight chairs were kept by the Lee-Dillon family until subsequently sold by order of the Dillon trustees, Christie's, London, 7 July 1994, lot 60, and again more recently, Christie’s, London, 19 September 2019, lot 190. The other six that ultimately ended up in the Trees’ collection were recorded as sold from Ditchley Park by the Executors of Harold Arthur, 17th Viscount Dillon, C.H., Sotheby's, London, 26 May 1933, lot 145. Whether the Trees had a prior arrangement or simply purchased the chairs at auction is unclear, but nevertheless, six returned to Ditchley under their stewardship and were lovingly described by Nancy as ‘six Kent chairs with faces carved in their gesso knees’ (ibid., p. 203). One of the chairs is depicted in a watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff executed in 1950 after Nancy and Ronald’s’ divorce, indicating this group stayed with Ronald Tree until inherited by their son Michael Tree, and his wife, Lady Anne Tree, née Cavendish, who lived at Mereworth Castle, Kent, until sold Christie's, London, 23 May 1968, lot 114, as a set of six. Subsequently they appeared on the London art market with Partridge, and then again when sold as the Property of a Nobleman; Christie's, London, 27 June 1985, lot 184, where they were acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty. According to the Getty Collection records, Peter Jay Sharp, a friend of the Gettys, was a competing bidder for the chairs, and apparently only wanted two for his Mongiardino-decorated New York apartment. They agreed to let Mr. Sharp borrow two, which comprise the present lot, and were returned to the Getty Collection in 1993. The other four chairs were re-covered in antique cream and brown curtain fabric and ultimately deaccessioned from their collection, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 21-22 October 1999, lots 451 and 452.
When considering the present lot in the context of the Getty Collection, they are perfectly concomitant as a representative of the balance between architecture and decoration that was newly achieved in early 18th century England. This balance is characterized by the understanding that in addition to interior and furniture designs, the role of tapestries, picture collections, wall hangings, window curtains, and needleworks were all integral to the role of the equally important ‘upholstery’ in creating a sense of unity as well as richness of texture, pattern, and color within a space. Such an understanding was not only acknowledged but masterfully accomplished throughout the Getty’s interiors.
20TH CENTURY PROVENANCE
Ditchley Park remained in the Lee-Dillon family for over two centuries until it was sold to Nancy Tree (later Lancaster) and her then husband Ronald Tree in 1933. Unlike many great houses, it was not subjected to 19th century alterations, thus remaining almost entirely Georgian in style with its grandeur and centuries of history intact. When the Trees purchased Ditchley they acquired much of the original furniture as well, considering it integral to the historical significance of the house and thus irreplaceable. In Nancy’s biography she claims they bought the house with everything, ‘lock, stock, and barrel’ (B. Robert, Nancy Lancaster: Her Life, Her World, Her Art, New York, 1996, pp.197-198). However, two from the original set of eight chairs were kept by the Lee-Dillon family until subsequently sold by order of the Dillon trustees, Christie's, London, 7 July 1994, lot 60, and again more recently, Christie’s, London, 19 September 2019, lot 190. The other six that ultimately ended up in the Trees’ collection were recorded as sold from Ditchley Park by the Executors of Harold Arthur, 17th Viscount Dillon, C.H., Sotheby's, London, 26 May 1933, lot 145. Whether the Trees had a prior arrangement or simply purchased the chairs at auction is unclear, but nevertheless, six returned to Ditchley under their stewardship and were lovingly described by Nancy as ‘six Kent chairs with faces carved in their gesso knees’ (ibid., p. 203). One of the chairs is depicted in a watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff executed in 1950 after Nancy and Ronald’s’ divorce, indicating this group stayed with Ronald Tree until inherited by their son Michael Tree, and his wife, Lady Anne Tree, née Cavendish, who lived at Mereworth Castle, Kent, until sold Christie's, London, 23 May 1968, lot 114, as a set of six. Subsequently they appeared on the London art market with Partridge, and then again when sold as the Property of a Nobleman; Christie's, London, 27 June 1985, lot 184, where they were acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty. According to the Getty Collection records, Peter Jay Sharp, a friend of the Gettys, was a competing bidder for the chairs, and apparently only wanted two for his Mongiardino-decorated New York apartment. They agreed to let Mr. Sharp borrow two, which comprise the present lot, and were returned to the Getty Collection in 1993. The other four chairs were re-covered in antique cream and brown curtain fabric and ultimately deaccessioned from their collection, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 21-22 October 1999, lots 451 and 452.