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Lot Essay
SEDDON, SONS AND SHACKLETON
The cabinet-making firm established by George Seddon in the early 1750s was a prolific one. An entry in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1768 notes a fire on the premises of Mr. Seddon, 'one of the most eminent cabinet-makers in London', which resulted in £20,000 in damages; in 1783 another fire destroyed an enormous £100,000 in property. By 1786, a German novelist Sophie von La Roche noted in her travel journal that the firm employed over 400 apprentices including glass-grinders, bronze-casters, carvers, gilders, painters, drapers and upholsterers, all of whom worked at the Aldersgate Street premises. A study of the printed bill-heads for the firm reveal the times when sons Thomas and George officially joined the company. Thomas Shackleton, who married the eldest daughter in 1790, was invited to join the firm in that same year. The partnership lasted until the father retired in 1798 and the sons assumed control of the business.
Differing only in the decoration of the seat rail, these chairs are virtually identical to a set of eighteen chairs ordered by D. Tupper for Hauteville House, Guernsey in 1790. This celebrated commission is one of only three documented by the firm. The invoices for this commission preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London describe the chairs as '18 Satinwood Elbow Chairs round fronts hollow can'd seats neatly Japann'd - ornamented with roses in back and peacock feather border....66.3'. The suite (including window seats and a card table) was first published by E. F. Strange, 'Seddon Furniture', Old Furniture, 5 October 1928, pp. 118-120. The chairs and the corresponding invoice was reproduced by the London dealers M. Harris & Sons, Old English Furniture, 1935, part 3, pp. 386-387. See C. Gilbert, 'Seddon, Sons & Shackleton', Furniture History, 1997, pp. 1-29 for a full discussion of the firm.
The rose sprigs that embellish the tops of the legs also feature on a pembroke table and pair of card tables en suite from a second documented commission for Richard Hall Clarke, Esq. at Bridwell House in Devon (sold Sotheby's, London, 9 July 1993, lot 173).
SIR CHARLES CLORE (1904-1979)
Sir Charles Clore's superb collection of French furniture was sold at Christie's, Monaco, 6 December 1985, while his English furniture was highlighted by the richly documented pair of tables designed by Robert Adam and made by Sefferin Alken for the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1768 for the Great Room of Coventry House, Piccadilly. They were sold from the collection at Christie's, London, 20 November 1986, lot 194.
Clore's business career spanned fifty years and concerned mainly property investment and 'corporate raiding'. He was a major philanthropic benefactor and shortly before his death, he discussed with the Tate Gallery the possibility of housing an enormous collection of works by Britain's greatest artist J. M. W. Turner. Following his death in 1979, the Clore Gallery adjoining 'Tate Britain', was built to preserve the Turner bequest.
The cabinet-making firm established by George Seddon in the early 1750s was a prolific one. An entry in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1768 notes a fire on the premises of Mr. Seddon, 'one of the most eminent cabinet-makers in London', which resulted in £20,000 in damages; in 1783 another fire destroyed an enormous £100,000 in property. By 1786, a German novelist Sophie von La Roche noted in her travel journal that the firm employed over 400 apprentices including glass-grinders, bronze-casters, carvers, gilders, painters, drapers and upholsterers, all of whom worked at the Aldersgate Street premises. A study of the printed bill-heads for the firm reveal the times when sons Thomas and George officially joined the company. Thomas Shackleton, who married the eldest daughter in 1790, was invited to join the firm in that same year. The partnership lasted until the father retired in 1798 and the sons assumed control of the business.
Differing only in the decoration of the seat rail, these chairs are virtually identical to a set of eighteen chairs ordered by D. Tupper for Hauteville House, Guernsey in 1790. This celebrated commission is one of only three documented by the firm. The invoices for this commission preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London describe the chairs as '18 Satinwood Elbow Chairs round fronts hollow can'd seats neatly Japann'd - ornamented with roses in back and peacock feather border....66.3'. The suite (including window seats and a card table) was first published by E. F. Strange, 'Seddon Furniture', Old Furniture, 5 October 1928, pp. 118-120. The chairs and the corresponding invoice was reproduced by the London dealers M. Harris & Sons, Old English Furniture, 1935, part 3, pp. 386-387. See C. Gilbert, 'Seddon, Sons & Shackleton', Furniture History, 1997, pp. 1-29 for a full discussion of the firm.
The rose sprigs that embellish the tops of the legs also feature on a pembroke table and pair of card tables en suite from a second documented commission for Richard Hall Clarke, Esq. at Bridwell House in Devon (sold Sotheby's, London, 9 July 1993, lot 173).
SIR CHARLES CLORE (1904-1979)
Sir Charles Clore's superb collection of French furniture was sold at Christie's, Monaco, 6 December 1985, while his English furniture was highlighted by the richly documented pair of tables designed by Robert Adam and made by Sefferin Alken for the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1768 for the Great Room of Coventry House, Piccadilly. They were sold from the collection at Christie's, London, 20 November 1986, lot 194.
Clore's business career spanned fifty years and concerned mainly property investment and 'corporate raiding'. He was a major philanthropic benefactor and shortly before his death, he discussed with the Tate Gallery the possibility of housing an enormous collection of works by Britain's greatest artist J. M. W. Turner. Following his death in 1979, the Clore Gallery adjoining 'Tate Britain', was built to preserve the Turner bequest.