Bunny Mellon: Chic Chaises

A detail of Bunny Mellon's chairs,
Lot 1301, Sale N09247.
Sotheby's, New York.

The Devoted Classicist has long wanted to present a series of posts about great chairs and their stylish owners, so here goes, starting with a remarkable set of seven black-japanned, parcel-gilt decorated dining chairs from the 1760s together with one armchair of a later date.  Although quite familiar to those interested in the decorative arts, the chairs have been brought into the spotlight as Lot 1301 in the auction of the estate of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, November 21 to 23, 2014, Sotheby's New York.


Bunny Mellon's set of 'loop' chairs.
Lot 1301, Sale NO9247.
Sotheby's, NY.
Estimated: $60,000 to $80,000.
Sold: $181,000 (with buyer's premium).

In the provenance listed in the catalog, Sotheby's failed to mention a former owner whose name would have added even more prestige: Nancy Lancaster one of the great decorators of the twentieth-century and business partner of John Fowler in the legendary firm Colefax & Fowler.



The chairs as they appeared in
DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE.
Image via Emily Evans Eerdmans



As documented in an article by Shax Riegler in the January, 2009 issue of "The Magazine Antiques," the chairs were formerly owned by noted collector Frank Green, and illustrated in A HISTORY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE by Percy MacQuoid, first published in four volumes from 1904 to 1908.  (The chairs also appeared in the DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE, FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE LATE GEORGIAN PERIOD.) 


A chair from the same set appears when
"Country Life" magazine publishes photos
of the home of founder Edward Burgess Hudson
at 15 Queen's Gate, London.
Image via Country Life Picture Library.

By the early 1920s, the chairs were owned by Edward Burgess Hudson, founder of "Country Life," the magazine where MacQuoid was employed as a columnist.  Hudson died in 1936 and sometime in the mid-1930s, the chairs were acquired by his London neighbors on Queen Anne's Gate, Ronald and Nancy Tree.


The Yellow Bedroom at Ditchley Park
showing one of the side chairs.
Watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.

After their divorce, Mrs. Tree became better known as Nancy Lancaster after her next marriage, with the chairs remaining at their grand country house Ditchley Park.  Two wonderful sets of watercolors were commissioned from Alexandre Serebriakoff as a record of Nancy and Ronald's decorating, and the chairs can be seen in the Yellow Bedroom and the Writing Room.


The Writing Room at Ditchley Park
showing the antique armchair.
Watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.

With the sale of Ditchley Park, the chairs went to the Manhattan townhouse of Ronald and his second wife Marietta Tree.  Presumably they remained in New York until the auction following Ronald Tree's death as they appear on the cover of the October, 1976 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalog.


Cover of the 1976 auction catalog
showing two of the side chairs.
Image via Emily Evans Eerdmans.

The "Antiques" article stated that the chairs were bought by the London antiques dealer Mallet and appeared in both MALLET'S GREAT ENGLISH FURNITURE and MALLET MILLENNIUM: FINE ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART.  In the 2009 article, Mallet's revealed that they had made the second arm chair and that the chairs were in a private American collection.


A Mellon arm chair, Lot 1301,
as it was displayed in the pre-sale exhibition.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Spitzmiller

The light graceful curves were made feasible through an innovative use of laminated beechwood.  The lacquered (or japanned) chinoiserie finish adds to the fanciful design but also conceals the layered construction.  However, the go-to craftsman for remarkable new ceramic lamps, Christopher Spitzmiller, said the chairs had a bit of "give" to the touch, making them more of an art object rather than chairs that were actually sat in for regular use.  Also noteworthy is the dipped or "saddle" seat, a characteristic found in other examples of the mid-1760s.


Views of the pre-sale exhibition at Sotheby's
showing the display of the eight chairs of Lot 1301.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Spitzmiller.

There is another chapter to come in the story of these chairs, of course, now that there is a new owner.  But, in addition, these chairs inspired a 20th century interpretation popularized by Frances Adler Elkins.  That will be another post of The Devoted Classicist.

And Furthermore

 

The Devoted Classicist has been a fan of the late Rachel "Bunny" Mellon since her contributions to the gardens at the White House.  Starting with the Rose Garden in 1961 and then the East Garden, dedicated as the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden in 1965, the heiress (Listerine) who married into an even larger fortune attracted attention in the community of those appreciating the mix of the formal and informal in residential garden design.  In the early 1990s, an Attingham classmate who was a foundation employee working from the Brick House gave me some insight into the then-relatively-private Mellons and their 4,000 acre estate (now about 2,000 acres listed for sale with 40 structures for $70 million) Oak Spring Farm near Upperville, Virginia. 

Auction catalogs can be an invaluable resource for studying (both fine and) the decorative arts.  However, interior views shown in catalogs are routinely rearranged to give a better representation of the lots offered; too seldom are they an accurate record of the original setting.  Nor can the descriptions be counted on as 100% accurate, even in the most prestigious and expensive catalogs.

Despite declarations from self-appointed tastemakers and arbiters of style/design that traditional decoration is passé, there has been a media frenzy surrounding Interiors, the three day auction of the furnishings from the estate of the late Mrs. Mellon with proceeds to benefit the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, a horticultural foundation which will continue to operate the library at Oak Spring.  While it is true that spare, neutral, do-it-yourself schemes still remain the most popular trend in interior design, clearly there is still interest in antiques and decoration among those in-the-know.  This successful sale is a reminder that one should follow one's own taste and not what is the so-called current fashion.

Eyford Park, England's Favorite House

The entrance to Eyford Park, Gloucestershire,
designed by Guy Dawber and built 1911 to 1912.
Photographed by Paul Barker, published 2004.
Country Life Picture Library.

Concluding - at least for now - the series of a dozen consecutive posts with a connection to the quintessential English country house Daylesford (starting with Pat "Bubbles" Rothermere here from April, 2014), Devoted Readers are asked to consider the house known as Eyford Park.  Country Life magazine named the private residence "England's Favorite House" in a 2011 contest of over more than 150 properties judged by Emma Bridgewater, Annabel Astor, Charlie Brooks and "Downton Abbey" creator Julian Fellowes.


Eyford Park, the entrance (north) front,
photographed by Paul Barker, published 2004.
Country Life Picture Library.

Although not the grandest or even the most architecturally significant, Eyford Park has "that elusive quality, a homely [editor's note:  yes, this is correctly used; see comments] warmth that simply makes you want to live there.  This is a testament to the skills of the family that has owned it for three generations," the Country Life committee said in a press release.  Sir Cyril Kleinwort with Lady Kleinwort bought the estate in December, 1972, with their giving up nearby Sezincote to one of their daughters.  Later, Eyford Park was bequeathed to their daughter Charlotte Herber-Percy who lived in the main house until about 2010 when she passed it on to her daughter Serena Prest.  Mrs. Heber-Percy then moved to the converted stable block.


Eyford Park, aerial view from the south.
English Heritage, View Finder.

Local legend has it that John Milton began writing Paradise Lost in the first house on the property, built as a retreat in the 1640s.  A second house was built, this time in the location as the present house, as an Italianate mansion in the 1870s by the Cheetham family.  Although the lodge still remains, that house was demolished by John Cheetham to build the current house, commissioned in 1911 from architect Guy Dawber.


A portrait of the architect Sir Guy Dawber
by William Orpen, 1930, from the RIBA collection
via BBC Public Catalog Foundation.

Guy Dawber became a great admirer of the vernacular architecture of the Cotswolds early in his career, working as clerk of the works during the construction of Batsford Park (later inherited by the father of the famous Mitford sisters) near Moreton-in-Marsh after an apprenticeship in Dublin.  Dawber started his independent practice in 1890 in London, soon becoming well known for middle-sized stone country houses, often in the revival Tudor or Late Stuart styles.  In 1925, Dawber founded the Council for the Preservation of Rural England after writing extensively on the vernacular buildings of the Cotswolds, Kent, and Sussex.


The west end of Eyford Park.
Country Life Picture Library.

While it can be tricky to apply a label of architectural style on every house, The Devoted Classicist would called this an Arts & Crafts house of the later period where classicism become more into play than the more medieval aspects that were hallmarks of the early days of the movement.  Some would call it (English) Queen Anne (which is different from the earlier period of that name in the U.S.) and some would call it Edwardian.  In any case, there is no question that it is anything less than a spectacularly handsome house.  It is Grade II listed.


An oblique view of the south (garden) front
of Eyford Park.
Country Life Picture Library.

Although there are some quirky features that resulted from an apparent pre-construction revision to make the house slightly smaller, compromises are not immediately evident on the entrance (north) front or the garden (south) front.  Inside, some of the uses of the rooms have changed to suit the needs of the current owners and some spaces have changed with opening of walls and rearranging partitions.


The north garden at Eyford Park
in a 2008 photo by Paul Barker.
Country Life Picture Library.

"What I've been trying to do is to modernize it and make it more child friendly," Mrs. Prest told Country Life.  "I hope we've hit the right note, with baths that work (they never really did in my grandmother's time) and yet none of that modern, hotel-like feel of interior design.  Eyford is not a Chatsworth or a Blenheim - it only has six bedrooms - but it's really alive.  Each day, I pinch myself at how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful, peaceful, yet practical house."


A detail of the site plan of Eyford Park.
The area in pink indicates a proposal for an indoor
swimmng pool in a portion of the converted stable block.
Drawing via public documents.

Guy Dawber laid out the gardens in the 1920s, but the Kleinworts brought in Graham Stuart Thomas in 1976 to improve the landscaping, as he had done at Sezincote; he returned again during the ownership of Mrs. Heber-Percy.  And John Fowler of Colefax & Fowler was consulted on the decoration, as also he had done at Sezincote.


The proposed floor plan for Eyford Park.
(Not as built)
"Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture"

The Billiard Room and the Housekeeper's Room were deleted, along with the Kitchen wing.  The Drawing Room was made longer, but the fireplace was left off-center.  Later, a flat roof garage was added on the east end; it now has a rooftop conservatory.  The Hall was later made into the Dining Room and the Business Room was later made into the Breakfast Room.  Presumably, the original Dining Room is now a Family Room.


The garden side of Eyford Park as originally
proposed in a circa 1910 rendering.
"Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture"

"About 60% of the carpets and curtains and 90% of the furniture are my grandmother's," Mrs. Prest told Country Life.  It is not difficult to see the influence of John Fowler in the Drawing Room, for example.


The Drawing Rom of Eyford Park
as photographed by Paul Higham,
and published in 2011.
Country Life Picture Library.

In 2004, Penelope Reeve was brought in to paint murals on the walls of the space that became the Dining Room.


The Dining Room, originally the Garden Hall.
Country Life Picture Library.

A series of scenes inspired by the canals of Venice cover the walls and incorporate the members of the family, including the housekeeper.


A detail of the current Dining Room
in Eyford Park.
Country Life Picture Library.

The Breakfast Room was apparently intended as a home office for the original owner, a diplomat often in foreign service, explaining its relatively formal proportions and detailing.


The current Breakfast Room of Eyford Park.
Country Life Picture Library.

An archway was added to connect the Kitchen and Breakfast Room as a concession to modern living.


A view from the Kitchen to the Breakfast Room
in a photo by Paul Higham published in 2011.
Country Life Picture Library.

More evidence of Penelope Reeve's murals line the passage outside the Dining Room at the staircase.


A detail of the staircase at Eyford Park
in a photo by Paul Higham, published 2011.
Country Life Picture Library.

The paneling of the staircase is painted in three glazed straw tones as one comes to expect from a Colefax & Fowler scheme to highlight the architectural detailing.


The staircase at Eyford Park
in a photo by Paul Higham, published 2011.
Country Life Picture Library.

The attic (not shown) was converted to additional family use, giving "rooms where a million dogs or children can mill around."


The upstairs landing at Eyford Park.
(Photo by Paul Higham not used)
Country Life Picture Library.

Despite the accolades, Eyford Park is not particularly well-known.  The house is not open to the public but charity-related events have sometimes been held on the grounds.  Eyford Park appears on the dust jacket of Clive Aslet's book THE EDWARDIAN COUNTRY HOUSE, A SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY and the same image along with another appears inside, but other than captions, there is no accompanying text.  It is an excellent book, however, and highly recommended for those interested in the country houses built in Britain between 1890 and 1939.  Note must be made that it is a rewrite of sorts, or a new, expanded edition of Clive Aslet's 1982 book THE LAST COUNTRY HOUSES.  These titles as well as others by Clive Aslet are available for order at a discount from the published price here.


THE EDWARDIAN COUNTRY HOUSE
A SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
by Clive Aslet, published November, 2012.

If reading this in a format other than the standard on-line version, visit the main blog site to leave a comment, learn more about The Devoted Classicist, search the archives, and read other posts in this series with a connection to Daylesford.  And lastly, a special thanks to Devoted Readers TB and TW who generously contributed advice and images for this post.

Heron Bay, Barbados

The Entrance front of the Barbados beachfront
 villa known as Heron Bay.
Photo from ARCHITECTURE DESIGN IN BARBADOS

The Devoted Classicist's favorite house in all the Caribbean is the Palladian villa called Heron Bay in Barbados.  Designed by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, a British architect best known for landscape design, for Marietta and Ronald Tree, it was built by local labor and believed to have been completed in 1947 (although some sources say 1949).  Ronnie Tree had a great deal of design input, apparently, and technical assistance may have been provided by British architect Paul Phipps, a former pupil of Sir Edwin Lutyens (and uncle by marriage to the former Mrs. Tree).  Inspiration for the design of the house was provided by Andrea Palladio's 16th century Villa Barbaro, also known as Villa di Maser.

Andrea Palladio's design for Villa Barbaro.
Image from THE FOUR BOOKS OF ARCHITECTURE

Heron Bay has a two-story central block with arcaded wings to each side ending in pavilions.  But instead of the wings being straight like at Villa Barbaro, the arcades are curved to end in pavilions clearly inspired by the Palladian model.

View of Heron Bay from the water
showing one of the end pavilions.
Image via Flickr, Kellsboro.

The beachside of the central block has a two-story portico facing a garden created by the curving arcades.

The seafront portico and one of the flanking
curving arcades of Heron Bay.
Photo from Country Life magazine, 1959.

The portico at Heron Bay
photographed by Slim Aarons from
A PLACE IN THE SUN.

Twin staircases lead down from the upstairs Drawing Room to the portico's paving that holds a large stone table, often used for dining.

Views, top, showing the portico set for dining.
Bottom, the ground floor Morning Room and the
upstairs Drawing Room.
From VOGUE July 1968 via NYSD.

The coral stone walls were left exposed in the Great Room and other principal rooms of the house, a reminder of the sometime harsh seaside conditions despite the tropical temperature. 

A recent view of the Drawing Room
showing the screen from Ditchley at the end.
Rendering by Will Topley.

The wonderful painted screen at one end of the Drawing Room was brought from Ditchley, the country house that Ronald Tree had shared with his former wife, Nancy, known to most readers as Nancy Lancaster.  (More about that in a future post). 


A view of the Hall at Ditchley Park
showing the backside of the screen now at Heron Bay.
Photo from NANCY LANCASTER, ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE STYLE
by Martin Wood.
 

Ronnie had bought the painted canvas screen measuring 14 x 20 feet in Venice; the perspective of a Palladian interior might have originally been a theatrical backdrop.

The Great Hall at Ditchley
showing a glimpse of the screen on the right.
Watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff, commissioned
after the divorce of Ronald and Nancy Tree from
JANSEN by James Archer Abbott.

Other decorative elements in the room include a pair of blackamoors and a set of oval framed floral paintings that appear to have been once part of an architectural assemblage such as overdoor panels.

The other end of the Heron Bay Drawing Room in 1987.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

 

The cover of Architectural Digest
featuring Heron Bay, photographed by Derry Moore.

The Morning Room on the ground floor, shown during the Tree's ownership, had similar but somewhat less formal furnishings to suit the scale of the room. 


The Morning Room of Heron Bay, 1987.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architecural Digest.

After selling Ditchley and moving to New York to a townhouse on East 79th Street, the Trees had a friendly separation with Ronnie spending more time in Barbados and Marietta in the United States.  (Yes, there is a lot more to that, but no need to get off track on this post).  Ronald Tree died in London in 1976 and Marietta died in her Sutton Place, New York City, apartment in 1991.


A garden pavilion at Heron Bay.
Photo from ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN IN BARBADOS.



The Pineapple Bridge at Heron Bay.
Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

The garden pavilion and Pineapple Bridge are attributed to Geoffrey Jellicoe.  But the pool pavilion, which appears to be later, may have been designed by Ronnie Tree; it is somewhat reminiscent of his contributions to the original buildings of the nearby Sandy Lane resort (since replaced by the existing buildings).


The swimming pool at Heron Bay.
Photo from ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN IN BARBADOS.

This writer is uncertain about the timeline of subsequent ownership, but Carole and Anthony Bamford are the current owners.  Using the Heron Bay estate has a tropical get-away during the winter months, Lord and Lady Bamford's primary residence is the magnificent country house, Daylesford, located in the scenic Cotswolds.  (See the previous post here for the Bamfords at Daylesford which also links to other posts on that extraordinary house).  Daylesford had been redecorated for the Bamfords with the help of Colefax & Fowler's Wendy Nicholls, managing director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler as the interior design part of the business is called, and she was also involved in the supplemental furnishings for the Bamfords at Heron Bay.


A bedroom at Heron Bay,
presumed to be the Master in one of the end pavilions.
Photo from ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN IN BARBADOS.

In addition to the Liz Smith article in New York Social Diary and the chapter in Keith Miller's book ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN IN BARBADOS, more information and photos may be seen in a post by P. Gaye Tapp on her blog Little Augury.


The beachfront side of Heron Bay, Barbados.
Photo from ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN IN BARBADOS

The next post of The Devoted Classicist will feature another aspect of the Tree connection to this series of essays.  Those Devoted Readers following by email can have access to the blog archive and the search feature by clicking on the regular (current) webpage here.



Carole and Anthony Bamford at Daylesford

An aerial view of Daylesford, Gloucestershire.
Image via Victory by Design.

Daylesford is considered by many to be the quintessential English country house.  Previous posts of The Devoted Classicist featured the house here, here, and here. For a look at the historic 1500 acre Cotswolds estate Daylesford today, we consider the present owners Anthony Bamford and his wife Carole.  Not known to many in the United States, the billionaire Lord and Lady Bamford live the lifestyles of the rich and famous at their multiple residences which includes the 17th century Wootton Lodge on 4,500 well-cared-for acres in Staffordshire (which had been bought by his father).

Wootton Lodge, Staffordshire.

Anthony Bamford was knighted in 1990 at the age of 45 and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2013, and created a Life Peer, taking the title Baron Bamford.  Carole Bamford was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2006 for her philanthropic work for children through the Lady Bamford Charitable Trust.


The courtyard at the Daylesford Organic Farm Shop.
Photo collage from Berry Diaries blog.

Converting the family farms in Staffordshire and Gloucestershire into utilizing organic responsible farming based on traditional methods, Lady Bamford opened Daylesford Organic farmshop and café on the estate in 2002.  Now there are also Daylesford shops in Surrey, on Pimlico Road and in Nottinghill, London, and a concession in Selfridges Food Hall plus an outpost in Japan.  The Bamford brand, launched in 2006, sells natural fiber clothing and natural products for body, baby, and home. 


There are several cottages
on the estate that can be booked
for lodging.  This one is apparently called
the Wood Store, reflecting its previous use..
Photo collage from Daylesford Organic Farm.

Both Bamfords serve on the board of directors of the family business, JCB, founded by his father J.C. Bamford.  Employing around 10,000 people, according to Wikipedia, there are eight plants in Staffordshire, two in Wrexham, one in Derbyshire, a factory in Savannah, Georgia, one in Brazil, three in India, one in China and one in Germany.  According to the JCB website there are 2,000 dealers world-wide to provide 300 products related to construction and agricultural equipment.

The fantastic scale of the Orangery
is revealed in comparison to the tent
set up to celebrate the wedding of a neighbor's daughter.
Photo by NYSD.

Other than some publicity for the Daylesford and Bamford brands, Lady Bamford is reluctant to give interviews, but a good example of putting out the good word (with photos) can be found in the story published in the December 8, 2013, issue of The Independent, which can be read here.  The Bamfords bought Daylesford in 1988 for a reported $22 million, and as Viscount Rothermere had done earlier, hired the interior design firm Colefax and Fowler (now known as Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler Interior Design and Decoration).  Sweeping away the decoration done by Mongiardino for Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, there was a return to the 18th century style established by architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell and owner Warren Hastings.  Again Daylesford was furnished with important 18th-century English furniture and art, including many items original to Hastings' inventory.


A fragment of the original wallpaper border from the Warren Hastings
era was reproduced by Colefax and Fowler for Daylesford.
Image from the Victoria & Albert Museum collection.

As far as this writer could determine, the Bamford interiors of Daylesford have never been published, even without the location being identified.  (Perhaps Devoted Readers can offer some insight, however).  There have been a few photos of the garden, but a request for more shots to accompany a December, 2007, article in W Magazine was met with the protests.  "'We can't show everything!' she says in her rather high-pitched, clipped voice.  A bit of a standoff follows.  Her initial concession: 'You can take a picture of this artichoke,' she says, perfectly serious."


Proposed alterations under the
entrance court at Daylesford.
Image via public documents.

Although Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza was known to have an interior swimming pool at Daylesford, an ingenious scheme to add a new swimming pool facility was proposed in 2005 that would also include a Mechanical Room, a 16-seat Cinema, a Gym and separate male and female Saunas and Changing Rooms.  With minimal interface to the original structure of the historic house, the addition, presumed to have been approved, was created from the excavations below the existing motor court entrance, with essentially no evidence of the new construction.


A bird's eye view of Daylesford
commissioned by the Bamfords from country
house & gardens painter Jonathan Myles-Lea.
Image via www.myles-lea.com/

Living in the country is aided by their private helicopter, one of the largest in England (used by Lord Bamford for his daily commute to his factory in Staffordshire and sometimes loaned to neighbor Prince Charles).  There is a private jet and a 240-foot yacht, The Virginian previously owned by John Kluge.  In addition to Daylesford and Wootton, there is a London mansion and a wine-producing seaside estate in Provence, Chateau de Leoube.  The next post of The Devoted Classicist will feature the Bamfords' home in Barbados, Heron Bay, the legendary beachfront villa formerly owned by Marietta and Ronald Tree (ex-husband of Nancy Lancaster).