Aged in Wood

The prop lobby poster for the play in
"All About Eve"
From the collection of Jane Withers.
Sold $10,000 November 9, 2013.
Julien's Auctions

Fans of the 1950 film "All About Eve" will recognize "Aged in Wood" as the title of the play starring Margo Channing (Bette Davis) at the beginning of the story.  But it could also be used to describe the new furniture carved by Jonathan Sainsbury.  There are many makers of reproduction furniture, but Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd is a stand-out because they hand carve directly from period examples with little if any 'interpretation' and give the new pieces an authentic finish to match the original or to suit the decor, whether water-gilded, waxed, or an aged paint finish.


A pair of reproduction William Kent
console tables, carved pine and aged gesso
by Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd.
Image via Semperey.

The original Kent console table
made in the 1720s, formerly at Chiswick House,
now in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Image via V & A.

A watercolor view of the Chiswick Gallery
by William H Hunt, 1828.
Image via The Bard Graduate Center.

The Sainsbury family started a business as timber merchants in the early 18th century and branched out as cabinet-makers in 1918 with a shop in Bournemouth.  In 2004, Jonathan Sainsbury established his own business to make furniture to meet a demand where the original was either too costly or impossible to find.


The Nostell Priory Mirror
as made by Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd.
(A reduction of height may be seen when compared
to the original by Thomas Chippendale).
Image via Decorex.

Thomas Chippendale's mirror
in the State Bedroom of Nostell Priory.
National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel
via Treasure Hunt blog

Many of the reproductions are mirrors in the ELG range (English Looking Glasses).  But there are all sorts of chairs, benches, beds, brackets, lamps, center tables and console tables.  In addition to Kent and Chippendale, there are a number of pieces reproduced from originals by Robert Adam, Matthias Lock and Thomas Hope, among others from the 18th and 19th centuries.


The Brighling Park table as reproduced by
Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd.
Image via Decorex.

The George II table from Brightling Park
possibly made by William Hallett.
Image via Bonhams.

Several pieces were commissioned by Carolyne Roehm for Chisholm House, her home in Charleston, South Carolina.  In addition, Sainsbury is carving a fireplace surround and overmantle inspired by the fantastic Chinese Room at Claydon; you will want to see the photos and read more about that on her blog here.


Restoration work is also undertaken by
Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd.

Read more about William Kent, the Ultimate Tastemaker, in an earlier post of The Devoted Classicist here.  See more examples of the work by Jonathan Sainsbury Ltd on their website.

William Kent, Ultimate Tastemaker

William Kent's design for the Great Dining Hall
at Houghton Hall, Isaac Ware, draughtsman, 1743.
Plate 38 from the book
'The Designs of Inigo Jones and others.'
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum.

"William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain" is a landmark, new exhibition opening in the Gallery of the Bard Graduate Center, NYC, on September 20, 2013.  A collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where it will be on view next year, this is the first major exhibition on the man who was probably the most influential designer in Britain in the eighteenth-century.


William Aikman's portrait of William Kent,
circa 1723 to 25.  National Portrait Gallery, London.
Image via BGC.

Almost 200 examples of William Kent's work will be on display ranging from his drawings for architecture, gardens, & sculpture to furniture, silver, and paintings, plus his book illustrations.  William Kent, like Robert Adam a generation later, is identified with an entire stylistic period, not just his own work.  Kent developed a style that catered to the rich patrons and collectors, all who had been on the Grand Tour and appreciated his interpretive recreations of Roman palazzi.


The Gallery at Chiswick Villa
in a 1828 watercolor by William Henry Hunt.
Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth.
Image via BGC.

The style known as 'Kentian' features palatial Italianate interiors with walls covered in silk damask or velvet, and richly painted ceilings to showcase gilded architectural tables & mirrors, and Old Master paintings.  Appreciated as a house guest of his patrons, he was affectionately known as 'Kentino.'


A console table, one of a pair, designed by Kent
and carved by John Boson, 1732.
Intended for the Sculpture Gallery at Chiswick,
they were recorded in the 1770 inventory as
being in Lady Burlington's bedroom.
With the other furniture at Chiswick, they passed by
descent to the Dukes of Devonshire, and were moved
to Devonshire House and then to
Chatsworth where the mate remains.
Image:  Victoria & Albert Museum.

The exhibition is divided into sections with parts focusing on country houses such as Houghton Hall, London houses such as Devonshire House (see previous post here), and royal work such as the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace.  Another section is devoted entirely to Holkham Hall, considered to be the finest example of the Palladian revival style in Britain.  The final section focuses on Kent's contributions to the history of landscape and garden design.


A Chinoiserie Garden Temple
designed and drawn by William Kent,
made circa 1730 to 1735.
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum.

Co-curated by Susan Weber of BGC and Julius Bryant of V&A, the exhibit will continue at the Bard until February 9, 2014, before going on to London, March 22 to July 13, 2014.  Susan Weber's book WILLIAM KENT: DESIGNING GEORGIAN BRITAIN may be ordered at substantial savings here.  For more information on all the programs and exhibitions on Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Cultures, see the BGC website.


A detail of a drawing by William Kent for a bracket
to display a bust, made  circa 1730 to 1735.
Image:  Victoria & Albert Museum.

Broadlands

Broadlands.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

Broadlands is a handsome house in Hampshire near Romsey that is best known as the residence of the late Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma.  But it also earned a footnote as the early destination of two royal honeymoons:  Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947, and the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981.  However, Devoted Readers will know it as once the location of a particularly lovely set of panels painted by Rex Whistler;  the previous post of The Devoted Classicist about these panels may be read here.


Broadlands, Hampshire.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the original manor belonged to Romsey Abbey, pre-dating the Norman Conquest of the 11th century.  In 1547, Broadlands was sold to Sir Francis Fleming whose daughter married into the St. Barbe family, who lived on the manor for the next 117 years.  Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston, bought Broadlands in 1736 and started, with the advice of William Kent, to deformalize the gardens from the house to the river.  Kent changed the course of the river Test to sweep towards the house and created a slight slope down to the river, the broad-lands. Lancelot "Capability" Brown, the famed architect and landscape designer, was brought in to refine the transformation in 1767, and his vision of making the Tudor and Jacobean manor house into a symmetrical, creamy brick Palladian mansion was completed by architect Henry Holland.


The river Test with farmlands beyond.
The first settlements in this valley date from
the fifth century when Saxons sailed up the river.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

Edwina Mountbatten (who was briefly profiled in the earlier post for commissioning the Whistler decoration) inherited Broadlands in 1939, during World War II, and the house was adapted for use as a hospital.  After returning from India where Lord Louis Mountbatten was the last viceroy, then governor general, the house was refurbished.  The twenty-seven room Victorian "bachelor wing" was pulled down and the Georgian architecture and décor was highlighted.  Entertaining resumed with lavish weekend house parties attended by high-society guests, much like the grand style of the 1930s, with only small concessions to a reduction of staff.  The Mountbattens had two daughters, Patricia and Pamela, who married famed decorator David Hicks.  (Patricia and Pamela, by the way, are first cousins to the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh).

Lord Louis Mountbatten, 79, was assassinated in 1979 when the Irish Republican Army blew up his boat in Donegal Bay, Ireland.  Also killed were a young boatsman, Mountbatten's 14 year old grandson Nicholas and the boy's grandmother, Dowager Lady Brabourne.  Patricia Mountbatten Knatchbull succeeded as The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and her son who inherited Broadlands, was known with his wife as Lord and Lady Romsey, a courtesy title;  after the 2005 death of Patricia's husband, the Romseys took the subsidiary title of Lord and Lady Brabourne.


The Romseys at Broadlands, circa 1983.
Photo via Daily Mail.

David Hicks was glad to be asked to help with the house's decoration when it was inherited by his wife's nephew.  In an April, 1983, article in Architectural Digest, Hicks says, "I've been longing to get my hands on those rooms for twenty-two years."  These photos show the Hicks arrangements of the rooms at that time.  "Pale colors," Hicks said, "are what Lady Romsey wanted, and what better for a pretty blonde in an eighteenth-century house?"

The ornamented plaster paneling in the Saloon by Joseph Rose dates from 1767, during Lord Palmerston's residency.  Adamesque gilt sofas and chairs of the same period are grouped around the fireplace and an Aubusson rug on strips of neutral velvet-pile carpeting sized to the room.  Bookcases now house Lord Mountbatten's collection of Sevres and Meissen that had been arranged by his brother-in-law, King Gustav of Sweden, a porcelain expert.


The Drawing Room at Broadlands, circa 1983.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

Palmerston family portraits flank the fireplace in the Drawing Room.  Note the placement of picture lights and the table-top lamps for the lower paintings.  It is a tradition for pots of azaleas to decorate the room each spring.


The Dining Room at Broadlands, circa 1983.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

David Hicks chose a vibrant yellow for the walls of the Dining Room to compliment four portraits by van Dyck.  This room shows the influence of Hicks the most, with the blue and yellow carpet of classical motifs and the set of ten armchairs at the table.  The bulk of the silver collection shown here consists of pieces given to the Mountbattens as gifts during their stay in India.


The Wedgwood Room at Broadlands, circa 1983.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

Afternoon tea is served in the Wedgwood Room with a suite of Empire seating pulled up to a round table in front of the fireplace.  Sir Peter Lely painted the portraits of Barbara Villiers and Lady Annabella Howe.  Henry Holland the Younger designed the room in 1788.


The Portico Room at Broadlands, circa 1983.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

The Bedroom known as the Portico Room uses chintz that had been ordered in 1854 for the royal yacht, the first named the Victoria and Albert (later renamed the Osborne).  Broadlands is open to the public late June to early September;  see the Broadland Estates website here.


Lord Braburne, right, with his son Nicholas, 2012.
Photo via Daily Mail.

Lord Braburne left Broadlands for the Bahamas in 2010, leaving his wife Penny for his mistress, according to the British tabloids.  He now lives in the Belgravia section of London, according to reports.  After a period of addiction to crack cocaine and heroin, son Nicholas (named for his uncle killed by the IRA) is now clean according to the Daily Mail, and on track to eventually become the Earl Mountbatten, inheriting Broadlands and the associated fortune.

The Duke of Devonshire's Lost London House

Last week, when Simon Seligman gave his brilliant talk, "Custodians, Collectors, and Tastemakers:  The Duchesses at Chatsworth", to the members and guests of Decorative Arts Trust (see the October 6, 2011, post), he touched on Devonshire House, the magnificent London home of the Duke of Devonshires that was once the center of the Cavendish family dynasty.  The Devoted Classicist remembered an article from an issue of "Country Life" last year on the occasion of the 'attic sale' by Sotheby's at Chatsworth.  The interior architectural details of the state rooms had been stored in the Chatsworth stables for almost 90 years after Devonshire House was demolished.  Whole rooms were carefully dismantled, labeled, and stored, with the hope that the interiors could be someday incorporated into a new building.

Stephen Colin's illustration of Devonshire House shows how the residence looked before the contents were removed in 1914.  From "Country Life" magazine, August 25, 2010.

Devonshire House was built by the 3rd Duke in 1733-34 on the Piccadilly site of Berkeley House, the 17th century residence that burned the previous year.  The new house with a severe classical brick exterior and grand classical interior was designed by William Kent, 1685-1748, and built on the foundations of the old house.  (Kent was a protege of friend and neighbor, the Earl of Burlington.  The Duke's son later married Lord Burlington's daughter, Charlotte Boyle, and inherited Chiswick Villa a Neo-Palladian masterpiece that was a design collaboration by Burlington and Kent). 

The marble staircase with the unusual crystal handrail disappeared and was the only major architectural feature not included in the auction.

The ground floor contained an Entrance Hall, accessed through a porte-cochere, and service rooms.  The main floor above, a piano nobile, contained eleven lavishly decorated state rooms reached by a spectacular curving marble staircase with a gilt-metal balustrade and a crystal handrail;  this 1853 Empire addition was designed by architect Decimus Burton who was also responsible for the portico.

The Ballroom of Devonshire House.

Two drawing rooms were combined during the occupation of the 6th Duke, using the decorating firm Federick Crace & Son to create a ballroom.

The Saloon of Devonshire House.

The Saloon, on the front of the house overlooking Green Park, was also redecorated by Crace with trompe l'oeil painting on the high coved ceiling above blue and gold silk covered walls with elaborate gilt framed mirrors.

The Dining Room of Devonshire House.

The Dining Room featured portraits within architectural frames incorporated into the paneling.  A robust William Kent console is shown with a later table and chairs dating from the Crace redecoration.

A side view of the Francois Herve settee, one of a pair, commissioned for Chatsworth.

During the occupation of the 5th Duke, the private apartments were remodeled by architect James Wyatt for the house's most famous occupant, the legendary Duchess Georgiana.  The 5th Duchess, 1757-1806, was the undisputed leader of London style, fashion, and society, painted by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Cosway.  A close confidante of Marie Antoinette, the Duchess shopped in Paris just weeks before the storming of the Bastille.  A set of eleven caned chairs, believed to be similar to the pair of settees from Chatsworth and included in the auction, were commissioned from Francois Herve, the noted Huguenot cabinet maker of the George III period.  (Georgiana was portrayed by Keira Knightly in the 2008 film "The Duchess").

The house was occupied by the Red Cross during the First World War, and sold to a property company in 1919 to help the 9th Duke pay Death Duties of GBP 500,000 plus the debts of the 7th Duke which he also inherited.  But a condition of the sale was that if the house was demolished and replaced by an apartment building of the same name, all the interior architectural details reverted to the Devonshire/Cavendish family.  In 1925, the fittings were carefully dismantled and sent to storage at Chatsworth.  Evelyn, Duchess of Devonshire, oversaw the recording and removals, reinstalling the art at Chatsworth and seeing that the salvaged details of one of London's most famous mansions were preserved. 

Photo of the Devonshire House apartment building by Curt DiCamillo from
The DiCamillo Campanion.

Across from the Piccadilly entrance to Green Park, the entrance gates and sphinx-topped piers are all that remains in place from historic Devonshire House with the exception of the Wine Cellar, now the ticket office of the Green Park Underground Station.  More about Devonshire House can be read here on the remarkable website The DiCamillo Companion.  Curt DiCamillo's site includes a database that is a continuing effort to document every country house in Britain and Ireland, plus, and this is invaluable to this writer, a Pronunciation Guide.

Photo of the current Duke of Devonshire at the exhibition tent for the
Sotheby's Attic Sale at Chatsworth, October, 2010.

In an October, 2010, three day auction which also included items in storage at Chatsworth that were from other Devonshire family properties, almost $10.3 million was raised, selling 20,000 items in 1,400 lots.  The top lot was a circa 1735 marble chimneypiece (similar to this one pictured above) attributed to William Kent which was estimated at GBP 200,000 - 300,000 and fetched GBP 565,250.

The black & white interior photographs were taken by "Country Life" in 1914 before the house was closed and were reprinted, along with the color cut-away illustration, in the August 25, 2010, issue of the magazine.  More information about subscriptions to the magazine can be found at www.countrylife.co.uk/.