A large giltwood armchair featuring a cartouche-shaped splat with carved guilloche border, curvilinear armrest supports and a heavily fluted seat frame with a serpentine front, mounted on naturalistically carved lion’s legs in a cornerstone position.
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| - A large giltwood armchair featuring a cartouche-shaped splat with carved guilloche border, curvilinear armrest supports and a heavily fluted seat frame with a serpentine front, mounted on naturalistically carved lion’s legs in a cornerstone position. (en)
- ARMCHAIR. ENGLISH; about 1759. Gilt wood with modern crimson silk damask.
Part of a set of seat furniture, comprising four gilded “lion” sofas and six armchairs, which are very early examples of furniture designed in the neo-classical style. The remainder of the set is on loan to Kenwood House, and is displayed in the library.
The set was designed in the late 1750’s by the architect James Stuart for the drawing-room at Spencer House, the first Earl Spencer’s Palladian mansion overlooking Green Park, London. Stuart had recently returned from Greece, where he had made drawings of the Athenian antiquities, and in the drawing-room at Spencer House he not only painted the walls and ceiling, but also designed all the furnishings in the classical style.
The sides of the sofas are formed by griffins or winged lions with long necks. The griffin supports were inspired by a marble Hellenistic throne, like the one in the Arundel collection, which was presented to the University of Oxford in 1755, and can now be seen at the Ashmolean Museum. The sofas and chairs are supported on “lion” legs, their seat and frames being heavily fluted and their backs ornamented with guilloche borders.
In the 18th century Spencer House was considered to be one of the most splendidly furnished houses in Europe, and the furnishings were described by Arthur Young in his “Tour through Southern Counties” 1772 as “astonishingly beautiful” and superior in “richness, elegance and taste” to anything he had ever seen.
Bought with a contribution from the Brigadier Clark Fund, through the National Art-Collections Fund. [1981]
ARMCHAIR
ENGLISH; ABOUT 1759
Gilt wood with modern crimson silk damask
Part of a set of seat furniture designed by the architect James Stuart (1713-88) for the Drawing Room at Spencer House, London. The remainder of the set is on loan to Kenwood House and is displayed in the Library.
Bought with a contribution from the Brigadier Clark Fund through that National Art-Collections Fund. [pre October 2000] (en)
- This armchair is part of a set of seat furniture made for the Painted Room at Spencer House, London. The design is exceptionally bold, with lion legs at both back and front. James Stuart, the architect who designed the house and many of its furnishings was one of the first architects in Britain to work in the new Neoclassical style. For the Painted Room he had the walls painted with arabesques and oval panels, imitating the style of decoration found during the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii. His design for the seat furniture probably took its inspiration from Greek and Roman thrones in stone. These often showed seats with legs and arms as mythical beasts.
This seat furniture is now once more on show at Spencer House. Please follow this link to be directed to the Spencer House website: http://www.spencerhouse.co.uk/ (en)
- Armchair in carved and gilded limewood, upholstered with modern green silk damask. From a set of seat furniture designed by James Stuart for Spencer House, London. English, 1759. (en)
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| - A large giltwood armchair featuring a cartouche-shaped splat with carved guilloche border, curvilinear armrest supports and a heavily fluted seat frame with a serpentine front, mounted on naturalistically carved lion’s legs in a cornerstone position. (en)
- ARMCHAIR. ENGLISH; about 1759. Gilt wood with modern crimson silk damask.
Part of a set of seat furniture, comprising four gilded “lion” sofas and six armchairs, which are very early examples of furniture designed in the neo-classical style. The remainder of the set is on loan to Kenwood House, and is displayed in the library.
The set was designed in the late 1750’s by the architect James Stuart for the drawing-room at Spencer House, the first Earl Spencer’s Palladian mansion overlooking Green Park, London. Stuart had recently returned from Greece, where he had made drawings of the Athenian antiquities, and in the drawing-room at Spencer House he not only painted the walls and ceiling, but also designed all the furnishings in the classical style.
The sides of the sofas are formed by griffins or winged lions with long necks. The griffin supports were inspired by a marble Hellenistic throne, like the one in the Arundel collection, which was presented to the University of Oxford in 1755, and can now be seen at the Ashmolean Museum. The sofas and chairs are supported on “lion” legs, their seat and frames being heavily fluted and their backs ornamented with guilloche borders.
In the 18th century Spencer House was considered to be one of the most splendidly furnished houses in Europe, and the furnishings were described by Arthur Young in his “Tour through Southern Counties” 1772 as “astonishingly beautiful” and superior in “richness, elegance and taste” to anything he had ever seen.
Bought with a contribution from the Brigadier Clark Fund, through the National Art-Collections Fund. [1981]
ARMCHAIR
ENGLISH; ABOUT 1759
Gilt wood with modern crimson silk damask
Part of a set of seat furniture designed by the architect James Stuart (1713-88) for the Drawing Room at Spencer House, London. The remainder of the set is on loan to Kenwood House and is displayed in the Library.
Bought with a contribution from the Brigadier Clark Fund through that National Art-Collections Fund. [pre October 2000] (en)
- This armchair is part of a set of seat furniture made for the Painted Room at Spencer House, London. The design is exceptionally bold, with lion legs at both back and front. James Stuart, the architect who designed the house and many of its furnishings was one of the first architects in Britain to work in the new Neoclassical style. For the Painted Room he had the walls painted with arabesques and oval panels, imitating the style of decoration found during the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii. His design for the seat furniture probably took its inspiration from Greek and Roman thrones in stone. These often showed seats with legs and arms as mythical beasts.
This seat furniture is now once more on show at Spencer House. Please follow this link to be directed to the Spencer House website: http://www.spencerhouse.co.uk/ (en)
- Armchair in carved and gilded limewood, upholstered with modern green silk damask. From a set of seat furniture designed by James Stuart for Spencer House, London. English, 1759. (en)
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