A PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD AND ROSEWOOD BIBLIOTHEQUES

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David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont enjoyed a distinguished diplomatic career as British Ambassador to the court of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria at Vienna from 1762 to 1772 and then in Paris as British Ambassador to the court of Louis XVI from 1772 to 1778. It was in Vienna that he first met Marie-Antoinette; however their friendship grew once he was at Versailles. The magnificant French furniture now at Scone Palace was largely acquired by Lord Stormont. The collection may have commenced in 1774 when his uncle the first Earl stayed at the Embassy and was presented by Lord Stormont to Louis XVI and Marie-Antionette at Versailles. Lord Stormont had earlier commemorated his first marriage in Warsaw in 1759 by commissioning companion portraits of himself and his wife from Bacciarelli. After his wife's death in 1766 he travelled to Italy and commissioned his portrait from Batoni. In the opinion of the great antiquarian Winckelmann (whom he met in Rome in 1768) he was ' the most learned man of his rank whom I have yet known'. In 1776 Lord Stormont married the Hon. Louisa Cathcart and he commissioned portraits of himself, his wife and their son from George Romney. After returning from Paris in 1778, Lord Stormont followed his uncle's example and commissioned Robert Adam to prepare designs for his town house, 37 Portland Place. His account book at Hoare's Bank together with his surviving account book at Scone Palace reveal numerous payments to leading cabinet-makers of the day. He was a pall-bearer at Robert Adam's funeral at Westminster Abbey and a year later commissioned the imposing monument to his uncle the first Earl by John Flaxman that still stands in the Abbey.

A PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD AND ROSEWOOD BIBLIOTHEQUES

CIRCA 1750, EMBELLISHED AND RECONSTRUCTED IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 19TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD AND ROSEWOOD BIBLIOTHEQUES
CIRCA 1750, EMBELLISHED AND RECONSTRUCTED IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 19TH CENTURY
Each with quarter-veneered cross-banding and foliate mounts, fitted with two frieze drawers above a pair of glazed doors enclosing velvet lined shelved interior, with panelled sides above a shaped apron, on splayed ormolu feet, each with a paper label to the inside inscribed '35 D.H.M.', each with the remains of printed paper label to the reverse inscribed 'Countess of Mansfield', two panes of glass cracked, both locks detached, one drawer locked, no key
68 in. (173 cm.) high; 46 in. (117 cm.) wide; 16½ in. (42 cm.) deep (2)

Provenance

The Hon. Louisa Cathcart, Countess of Mansfield (d. 1843), wife of David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield and 7th Viscount Stormont (d.1796).
Possibly Kenwood House, London.
Removed to Scone Palace prior to the auction at Kenwood in 1922.

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Lot Essay

As soon as Louisa Cathcart, Countess of Mansfield and David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield took over Kenwood House in 1793 they began improving and expanding the house and estate. Louisa personally supervised work in the Music Room and the new dairy.

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