PROPERTY OF THE 7TH EARL OF HAREWOOD'S WILL TRUST
A PAIR OF GEORGE III GREEN-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT CONVERSATION STOOLSBY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770-1772
■ Post sale offsite storage ∍ UK/EU consumer notice
Price Realised GBP 50,400
Estimate
GBP 50,000 - GBP 100,000
Estimates do not reflect the final hammer price and do not include buyer's premium, any applicable taxes or artist's resale right. Please see the Conditions of Sale for full details.
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A PAIR OF GEORGE III GREEN-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT CONVERSATION STOOLS
BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770-1772
Price Realised GBP 50,400
Price Realised GBP 50,400
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- This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods LtdChristie Manson & Woods Ltd
8 King Street, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6QT, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 2869
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Lot Essay
These rare and important ‘conversation stools’, en suite with the two lots 12 and 13 - a set of four armchairs and a sofa – were supplied by Thomas Chippendale between circa 1770 and 1772 to Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (1712-95) for Harewood House. Originally painted blue and parcel-gilt, the stools almost certainly belong to the suite recorded in Lady Harewood’s Dressing Room which describes a ‘sopha, 2 Conversasion [sic] Stools & 3 Chairs Blue & Gold covered with blue Damask’.1
Chippendale supplied several other suites of painted or giltwood seat furniture which included window stools or conversation stools and remain at Harewood. Two green painted and parcel-gilt conversation stools were ordered for the Chintz Bedroom,2 three green painted and parcel-gilt window stools were ordered for the Music Room3 two blue painted and parcel-gilt conversation stools were ordered for the Saloon4 and two giltwood conversation stools were ordered for the State Bedroom.5
Please see footnote to lot 12 for further discussion of the suite and Thomas Chippendale’s commission at Harewood House.
EXTENSION AND DECORATION
Interestingly, the present stools have been extended in length by approximately 6 inches apparently around the time of manufacture. The extensions are made in limewood which displays identical oxidization to the adjacent limewood rails. The chronology of upholstery nailing to the rails is the same on the extensions, as are the traces of original blue paint and parcel gilding. Further, treatment of the carving of husks is indistinguishable suggesting that these elements were carved bin the workshop by the same hand. Finally, the extensions are secured with contemporary hand-cut steel screws.
Paint analysis across this suite (lots 12-14), including the present stools, revealed it was originally decorated in blue and parcel-gilt. A ground of white gesso was applied to the wood, followed by water gilding on some mouldings, using a reddish brown clay. The blue paint, mixed from lead white and Prussian blue, was applied last.
For the second scheme of decoration, fresh gesso was applied to the gilded areas, followed by water gilding over a grey clay. It is not clear if the original blue remained visible. No evidence of fresh blue paint was found.
For the third scheme, patches of green were applied as seen today. Unlike the four armchairs (lot 12) and the sofa (lot 13), which were being painted green before the middle of the twentieth century. These windows seats remained blue until after the Second World War. The paint used for the green contains titanium dioxide white, a pigment first widely used for paints after circa 1950.
[1] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 20.
[2] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 49 and one illustrated in the Yellow Drawing Room, J. Sellars [Ed.], The Art of Thomas Chippendale Master Furniture Maker, 2000, Leeds, p. 6.
[3] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 25 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 393.
[4] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 17 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 395.
[5] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, pp. 18-19 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 394.
Chippendale supplied several other suites of painted or giltwood seat furniture which included window stools or conversation stools and remain at Harewood. Two green painted and parcel-gilt conversation stools were ordered for the Chintz Bedroom,2 three green painted and parcel-gilt window stools were ordered for the Music Room3 two blue painted and parcel-gilt conversation stools were ordered for the Saloon4 and two giltwood conversation stools were ordered for the State Bedroom.5
Please see footnote to lot 12 for further discussion of the suite and Thomas Chippendale’s commission at Harewood House.
EXTENSION AND DECORATION
Interestingly, the present stools have been extended in length by approximately 6 inches apparently around the time of manufacture. The extensions are made in limewood which displays identical oxidization to the adjacent limewood rails. The chronology of upholstery nailing to the rails is the same on the extensions, as are the traces of original blue paint and parcel gilding. Further, treatment of the carving of husks is indistinguishable suggesting that these elements were carved bin the workshop by the same hand. Finally, the extensions are secured with contemporary hand-cut steel screws.
Paint analysis across this suite (lots 12-14), including the present stools, revealed it was originally decorated in blue and parcel-gilt. A ground of white gesso was applied to the wood, followed by water gilding on some mouldings, using a reddish brown clay. The blue paint, mixed from lead white and Prussian blue, was applied last.
For the second scheme of decoration, fresh gesso was applied to the gilded areas, followed by water gilding over a grey clay. It is not clear if the original blue remained visible. No evidence of fresh blue paint was found.
For the third scheme, patches of green were applied as seen today. Unlike the four armchairs (lot 12) and the sofa (lot 13), which were being painted green before the middle of the twentieth century. These windows seats remained blue until after the Second World War. The paint used for the green contains titanium dioxide white, a pigment first widely used for paints after circa 1950.
[1] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 20.
[2] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 49 and one illustrated in the Yellow Drawing Room, J. Sellars [Ed.], The Art of Thomas Chippendale Master Furniture Maker, 2000, Leeds, p. 6.
[3] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 25 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 393.
[4] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, p. 17 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 395.
[5] Harewood House 1795 Inventory, pp. 18-19 and illustrated Gilbert, op. cit., vol. II p. 216, fig. 394.
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Lot 14
Sale 22697
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BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770-1772
A PAIR OF GEORGE III GREEN-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT CONVERSATION STOOLS
Estimate: GBP 50,000 - 100,000
Bid amount
Buyer's premium
Estimated total cost exclusive of duties