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Lot Essay
This pair of stools with their grand scale and carved elephants are among the most idiosyncratic and creative examples of English furniture known to exist. They were part of a suite of furniture including a pair of monumental settees also featuring elephant’s heads which were commissioned by Hugh Fortescue (1696-1751) 14th Baron Clinton and 1st Earl Fortescue for Castle Hill, Devon as part of an ambitious long-term remodeling and refurbishment undertaken from around 1729-1740. Greatly enlarged, Castle Hill was transformed into a monument to the newly fashionable Palladian taste by the architect Roger Morris (1695-1749) who was working under the direction of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) and Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693-1749) (H. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, London, 1978, p.561).
The origin of the Palladian style lies in Lord Burlington’s fascination with architecture and the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio’s (1508-1580) four volume architectural treatise I quattro libri dell'architettura. Burlington had brought it with him on his Italian Grand Tour of Rome and Northern Italy in 1719 and upon his return to England, he fired his architect and devoted himself to rebuilding his London residence, Burlington House, as a monument to this new aesthetic which was a significant departure from the current fashion. Due to Lord Burlington’s evangelism, influence and his disciples, most notably the architect designer William Kent (1685-1748) and Henry Flitcroft, Palladianism became the de facto style for any significant public or private building. The circle of architects, designers and craftsmen under Burlington or his disciples’ patronage frequently overlapped and led to repeated cross-pollination of specific aesthetic elements throughout their work. Documented commissions and surviving designs are rare, with attributions often a result of records found in country house inventories.
THE MODEL
The stools’ stylistic origins can be seen in the grandly scaled contemporary Roman furniture with which both Lord Burlington and William Kent were well-acquainted. During Kent’s 10 years in Italy, he was ‘continualy a drawing ornements & architecture & getting things’ which included five console tables which became part of the inventory for his Estate (S. Weber, ed., William Kent, Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven, 2013, p.449, p.451). Once Kent returned to England, a further source of design inspiration were the drawing libraries of John Talman, his Grand Tour traveling companion, as well as Kent’s patron, Lord Burlington. A 1714 drawing by the Italian artist Giovanni Gardini may have been a source for an earlier console table he supplied to Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney (1680-1750) for Wanstead. With its boldly scrolled supports, a central mask and lush garlands it shares close stylistic parallels with the stools, (Ibid, pp.450-1, figs. 17.1 and 17.3).
Their design and original purpose shrouded in mystery, these stools epitomize the European embrace of the exotic. The elephant had long been an object of fascination since they first appeared during Hannibal’s infamous march over the Alps and became elite diplomatic gifts to monarchs, princes and the nobility. Depicted in paintings or on lacquer, turned into automata or worked in precious metals, elephants became a metaphor for the priceless or unique. Though elephants appear in other English artistic disciplines, their presence in furniture is a rarity. Intriguingly, of the suite of furniture supplied to Castle Hill, only the pair of monumental settees feature elephants while the remaining furniture has traditional Palladian ornament. Although they have been used as stools since the mid-19th century as documented in this talented amateur watercolor from 1851 reproduced here, their height would suggest they were originally conceived as stands, perhaps to compliment exotic treasures acquired from the East.
Besides the pair of settees supplied to Castle Hill, only two other examples of Palladian furniture that incorporate elephants are known to exist- yet they reflect how a specific design within the close-knit circle of Palladian architects, designers, and craftsmen served as a template for subsequent examples. A pier table now with a later porphyry veneered top supplied to John, 1st Earl Poulett (d.1743), for Hinton House, Somerset and sold by his descendant at Sotheby’s, London, 1 November 1968, lot 66 and subsequently in the collection of S. Jon Gerstenfeld (reproduced here) is almost identical in spirit to the stools with an elephant supporting a Vitruvian scroll frieze. A side table, lot 331 in the Collection of Ann and Gordon Getty, with its more refined version of an elephant mask suspending cornucopiae illustrates how the design or perhaps familiarity with the stools or the Hinton table served as inspiration. Interestingly, this table also shares a Vitruvian scroll frieze as well as closely related bold uprights to the Wanstead console supplied to Sir Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney. Attributed to the designer Henry Flitcroft, it may point to a potential attribution and/or an unknown carver responsible for all three works.
CASTLE HILL, DEVON
Castle Hill’s origins lie in a late Tudor manor that had been the home of the Fortescues since the 15th century. After the Palladian remodeling and refurbishing, the house underwent two further significant modifications in 1841 and 1862 by the architect Edward Blore. The charming amateur watercolor initialed CEF and dated 1861 (illustrated here), with one of the settees and the stools in the main staircase hall, establishes their continued presence as an integral part of the interior over a century later. The artist is very likely Lady Camilla Eleanor, who married the Hon. Dudley Fortescue (1820-1909), the youngest son of the 2nd Earl of Fortescue, in 1852. More recently, a devastating fire gutted the central block in 1934 but the stools and sofas were spared.
The origin of the Palladian style lies in Lord Burlington’s fascination with architecture and the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio’s (1508-1580) four volume architectural treatise I quattro libri dell'architettura. Burlington had brought it with him on his Italian Grand Tour of Rome and Northern Italy in 1719 and upon his return to England, he fired his architect and devoted himself to rebuilding his London residence, Burlington House, as a monument to this new aesthetic which was a significant departure from the current fashion. Due to Lord Burlington’s evangelism, influence and his disciples, most notably the architect designer William Kent (1685-1748) and Henry Flitcroft, Palladianism became the de facto style for any significant public or private building. The circle of architects, designers and craftsmen under Burlington or his disciples’ patronage frequently overlapped and led to repeated cross-pollination of specific aesthetic elements throughout their work. Documented commissions and surviving designs are rare, with attributions often a result of records found in country house inventories.
THE MODEL
The stools’ stylistic origins can be seen in the grandly scaled contemporary Roman furniture with which both Lord Burlington and William Kent were well-acquainted. During Kent’s 10 years in Italy, he was ‘continualy a drawing ornements & architecture & getting things’ which included five console tables which became part of the inventory for his Estate (S. Weber, ed., William Kent, Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven, 2013, p.449, p.451). Once Kent returned to England, a further source of design inspiration were the drawing libraries of John Talman, his Grand Tour traveling companion, as well as Kent’s patron, Lord Burlington. A 1714 drawing by the Italian artist Giovanni Gardini may have been a source for an earlier console table he supplied to Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney (1680-1750) for Wanstead. With its boldly scrolled supports, a central mask and lush garlands it shares close stylistic parallels with the stools, (Ibid, pp.450-1, figs. 17.1 and 17.3).
Their design and original purpose shrouded in mystery, these stools epitomize the European embrace of the exotic. The elephant had long been an object of fascination since they first appeared during Hannibal’s infamous march over the Alps and became elite diplomatic gifts to monarchs, princes and the nobility. Depicted in paintings or on lacquer, turned into automata or worked in precious metals, elephants became a metaphor for the priceless or unique. Though elephants appear in other English artistic disciplines, their presence in furniture is a rarity. Intriguingly, of the suite of furniture supplied to Castle Hill, only the pair of monumental settees feature elephants while the remaining furniture has traditional Palladian ornament. Although they have been used as stools since the mid-19th century as documented in this talented amateur watercolor from 1851 reproduced here, their height would suggest they were originally conceived as stands, perhaps to compliment exotic treasures acquired from the East.
Besides the pair of settees supplied to Castle Hill, only two other examples of Palladian furniture that incorporate elephants are known to exist- yet they reflect how a specific design within the close-knit circle of Palladian architects, designers, and craftsmen served as a template for subsequent examples. A pier table now with a later porphyry veneered top supplied to John, 1st Earl Poulett (d.1743), for Hinton House, Somerset and sold by his descendant at Sotheby’s, London, 1 November 1968, lot 66 and subsequently in the collection of S. Jon Gerstenfeld (reproduced here) is almost identical in spirit to the stools with an elephant supporting a Vitruvian scroll frieze. A side table, lot 331 in the Collection of Ann and Gordon Getty, with its more refined version of an elephant mask suspending cornucopiae illustrates how the design or perhaps familiarity with the stools or the Hinton table served as inspiration. Interestingly, this table also shares a Vitruvian scroll frieze as well as closely related bold uprights to the Wanstead console supplied to Sir Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney. Attributed to the designer Henry Flitcroft, it may point to a potential attribution and/or an unknown carver responsible for all three works.
CASTLE HILL, DEVON
Castle Hill’s origins lie in a late Tudor manor that had been the home of the Fortescues since the 15th century. After the Palladian remodeling and refurbishing, the house underwent two further significant modifications in 1841 and 1862 by the architect Edward Blore. The charming amateur watercolor initialed CEF and dated 1861 (illustrated here), with one of the settees and the stools in the main staircase hall, establishes their continued presence as an integral part of the interior over a century later. The artist is very likely Lady Camilla Eleanor, who married the Hon. Dudley Fortescue (1820-1909), the youngest son of the 2nd Earl of Fortescue, in 1852. More recently, a devastating fire gutted the central block in 1934 but the stools and sofas were spared.