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Lot Essay
These iconic chairs are originally from a suite of eight chairs which formed a larger set of furniture made for one of the most famous chinoiserie rooms in England, the Chinese Bedroom at Badminton House, Gloucestershire. The elaborate Chinese Bedroom apartment was hung with Chinese wallpaper decorated with colorfully plumed birds and bamboo, and furnished with ambitious gilt and polychrome-japanned George II furniture in the ‘Chinese manner’. Fanciful Western interpretations of what Chinese furniture might look like, they are emblematic of the fascination for the exotic prevalent in Europe in the 18th century. Charles Somerset, the 4th Duke of Beaufort (1709-1759) and his wife Elizabeth Berkeley (1713-1799) commissioned the extraordinary suite of furniture from the cabinet-making firm of William and John Linnell of Berkeley Square. At the time, the production of Chinese style furniture was cutting edge and newly fashionable. While there is no surviving bill of furnishing, there are records of payments made from the Duke’s bank account at Hoare’s Bank to the Linnell firm between October 1752 and December 1755 for a total of £800. Furthermore, Linnell’s original design for these chairs, illustrated here, survives as a fascinating document of the commission [V&A, E.71-1929]. The date of the Linnell drawing pre-dates the first publication of Thomas Chippendale’s Director (1754), which included drawings for similarly designed chairs and case furniture in the ‘Chinese manner’. The earlier date of the Linnell drawing suggests the chairs were likely among the first of the suite to be ordered. In the drawing, the outer frame of the chair is red and the fretwork is blue, red, and gold, a vibrant scheme which would have harmonized with the colorful wallpapers adorning the Chinese Bedroom.
The present decorative scheme of the chairs probably dates from the late 1830s to 1840s as evidenced by the records of payments made to John Coffey, who worked at Badminton House from 1837-1848 as a polisher, cabinet-maker and gilder. The redecoration included the addition of japanned landscape scenes on the chairbacks, simulating traditional Chinese or Japanese lacquer. It was during this time period in the 19th century that chinoiserie enjoyed a fresh wave of demand, largely owed to the enduring popularity of the Prince of Wales’ (later King George IV) extraordinary ‘temple of exoticism’, the Brighton Pavilion.
THE 20TH CENTURY HISTORY
The Chinese Bedroom furniture was sold by the 9th Duke of Beaufort at Christie's in 1921. The eight chairs were acquired by the American heiress Ethel, Countess Beatty (née Field, 1873-1932), one of the great society hostesses of her time and daughter of the Chicago department store tycoon Marshall Field. After her death in 1932, and the death of her second husband David, 1st Earl Beatty in 1936, the chairs were conceivably divided between their two sons.
Their first son, David, 2nd Earl Beatty (1905-1972), sold four of the chairs at Christie's, London, 17 December 1959, lot 128. A pair from his set of four reappeared was sold at Christie's, London, 7 July 1988, lot 65, and is now in the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery [Na1165.1-2]. The remaining pair from his set of four was sold at Christie's, London, 19 April 1990, lot 33 and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum [W.33-1990].
Their second son, the Hon. Peter Beatty (1910-1949), kept the remaining four chairs at his residence, Mereworth Castle, until his untimely death. Mereworth Castle and its contents were left to his nephew Michael Lambert Tree (1921-1999). Tree was a son of Ronald Tree, Beatty's half-brother from his mother's [Ethel’s] first marriage. Michael Tree’s mother was Nancy Lancaster (1897-1994), co-owner of the iconic British decorating firm Colefax & Fowler, whose first marriage was to Henry Field, the cousin to her second husband Ronald Tree (Michael’s father). Therefore, Michael Tree was also heir to the Marshall Field fortune. The current pair of chairs is from this set of four, and was acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from Christie's, London, 5 December 1991, lot 252.
In addition to the eight armchairs, the Chinese Bedroom furniture also included the magnificent canopied bed now in the Victoria and Albert Museum [W.143:1 to 26-1921], with its pagoda-form canopy guarded by gilt dragons and similarly carved open fretwork back of the chairs. The Bedroom was hung with an impressive pagoda-crested overmantel mirror attributed to the Linnells, later in the collection of Doris Duke, sold Christie's, New York, 3-5 June 2004, lot 442 ($1,575,500). The Bedroom also included two pairs of standing shelves; one now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Liverpool and the other now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [64.101.1124]. The Victoria and Albert also houses a dressing commode [W.55:1 to 24-1952].
The present decorative scheme of the chairs probably dates from the late 1830s to 1840s as evidenced by the records of payments made to John Coffey, who worked at Badminton House from 1837-1848 as a polisher, cabinet-maker and gilder. The redecoration included the addition of japanned landscape scenes on the chairbacks, simulating traditional Chinese or Japanese lacquer. It was during this time period in the 19th century that chinoiserie enjoyed a fresh wave of demand, largely owed to the enduring popularity of the Prince of Wales’ (later King George IV) extraordinary ‘temple of exoticism’, the Brighton Pavilion.
THE 20TH CENTURY HISTORY
The Chinese Bedroom furniture was sold by the 9th Duke of Beaufort at Christie's in 1921. The eight chairs were acquired by the American heiress Ethel, Countess Beatty (née Field, 1873-1932), one of the great society hostesses of her time and daughter of the Chicago department store tycoon Marshall Field. After her death in 1932, and the death of her second husband David, 1st Earl Beatty in 1936, the chairs were conceivably divided between their two sons.
Their first son, David, 2nd Earl Beatty (1905-1972), sold four of the chairs at Christie's, London, 17 December 1959, lot 128. A pair from his set of four reappeared was sold at Christie's, London, 7 July 1988, lot 65, and is now in the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery [Na1165.1-2]. The remaining pair from his set of four was sold at Christie's, London, 19 April 1990, lot 33 and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum [W.33-1990].
Their second son, the Hon. Peter Beatty (1910-1949), kept the remaining four chairs at his residence, Mereworth Castle, until his untimely death. Mereworth Castle and its contents were left to his nephew Michael Lambert Tree (1921-1999). Tree was a son of Ronald Tree, Beatty's half-brother from his mother's [Ethel’s] first marriage. Michael Tree’s mother was Nancy Lancaster (1897-1994), co-owner of the iconic British decorating firm Colefax & Fowler, whose first marriage was to Henry Field, the cousin to her second husband Ronald Tree (Michael’s father). Therefore, Michael Tree was also heir to the Marshall Field fortune. The current pair of chairs is from this set of four, and was acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from Christie's, London, 5 December 1991, lot 252.
In addition to the eight armchairs, the Chinese Bedroom furniture also included the magnificent canopied bed now in the Victoria and Albert Museum [W.143:1 to 26-1921], with its pagoda-form canopy guarded by gilt dragons and similarly carved open fretwork back of the chairs. The Bedroom was hung with an impressive pagoda-crested overmantel mirror attributed to the Linnells, later in the collection of Doris Duke, sold Christie's, New York, 3-5 June 2004, lot 442 ($1,575,500). The Bedroom also included two pairs of standing shelves; one now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Liverpool and the other now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [64.101.1124]. The Victoria and Albert also houses a dressing commode [W.55:1 to 24-1952].