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]