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Lot Essay
ROBERT HUME AND SON
This magnificent ebony side cabinet displaying vibrant pietra dura panels was almost certainly supplied by the fashionable London cabinet-maker and marchand-mercier, Robert Hume Snr., between 1815 and 1820, to the antiquarian collector William Beckford (d.1844) at his Gothick mansion, Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire. It was subsequently purchased by Robert Hume Jnr. acting for Robert, 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later 1st Marquess of Westminster (d.1845) from the Phillips' 1823 sale at Fonthill Abbey where it was recorded in the 'Crimson Drawing Room' (The Unique and Splendid Effects of Fonthill Abbey; the Extensive Assemblage of Costly and Interesting Property, which Adorns this Magnificent Structure, Phillips, 23 September-22 October 1823, lot 1347).
Beckford's relationship with Hume and Son was long standing, the firm supplying a diverse range of furniture. In November 1815, the accounts of Gregorio Franchi (d.1828), Beckford's companion and agent, and the principal contact between Hume and Beckford, reveal 'Items to be made by Mr. Hume', 'A Florentine cabinet, a cabinet for the Lancaster Gallery, a table for the amber cabinet, two oak side tables'; the term 'Florentine' or 'mosaic' used to denote pietra dura (Bet McLeod, 'A Celebrated Collector', Ed. Derek E. Ostergard, William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New Haven and London, 2002, p. 170). A second closely related pietra dura cabinet, presumably also supplied by Hume for the 'Crimson Drawing Room' at Fonthill (the same room as the present lot), was acquired by George Hammond Lucy and is now at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (Adriana Turpin, 'Filling the void: the development of Beckford's taste and the market in furniture', op.cit, pp.191 and 360, fig. 86).
As a designer and connoisseur, Franchi was well placed to assess Hume's expertise, praising the quality of the latter's 'Firenzi' pieces in a letter to Beckford dated 29 June 1815, 'Non dico una syllaba contra delle cabinetti e coffretto di Firenze - piu perfetto execuzione in questo genere un ho mi veduto' ('nothing can be said against the Florentine cabinets and coffers... more perfectly executed pieces of this type I have never seen') (Bodleian Library, Beckford Ms. C4, f.35). However, although Beckford and Franchi recognised Hume's ability, they were not pleased about the considerable prices the fashionable firm charged, Franchi noting, 'non e neccessario riportaire l'infinistibilita di alimentar il gran Gusto & gran Custo del Signor Hume' ('it is not necessary to repeat how costly it is to satisfy Mr. Hume's great taste') (Bodleian Library, Beckford Ms. c4, f.80, Letter from Franchi to Beckford, 21 October 1815).
Despite the expense, Beckford was consulting Hume and Son practically on a daily basis exacerbating his financial difficulties, and precipitating the eventual sale of Fonthill Abbey and its collections in 1823. In March 1819, Beckford wrote, 'Almost every day now I see Hume, and seeing him one sees objects of curiosity, and seeing them one always thinks them desirable; then one gives little commissions, and then one makes little purchases, and so piling up debts and deficits one marches towards an abyss as black as Death!' (Bet McLeod, op.cit., pp. 169-170).
Sumptuous neo-Baroque furniture embellished with pietra dura panels was so highly sought by Beckford and other wealthy collectors that Hume, the pre-eminent maker for this type of furniture, was constantly in demand. This cabinet forms part of an exceptional group of pietra dura furniture attributed to Hume. An 1876 inventory for Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, lists 15 pieces of pietra dura furniture acquired by Beckford's son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton Douglas, 10th Duke of Hamilton, some of which is by Hume, including a magnificent clock cabinet with 17th century pietra dura panels from the Gobelins workshop in Paris, made in 1824 and subsequently sold to Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster in 1882, a direct descendant of the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, now in the Gilbert collection (The Hamilton Palace Collection, Christie's London, 26 June 1882, lot 520; Victoria and Albert Museum LOAN: GILBERT.204-2008).
This clock cabinet was formerly at Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor's Cheshire seat, where it was photographed in the Ball Room together with the present cabinet by Country Life in 1932 (unpublished). The wealthy art connoisseur, George Watson Taylor (d.1841) of Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire was another enthusiastic collector of pietra dura cabinets commissioning a pair of cabinets from Hume in around 1825. These were later re-acquired by Hume as agent for the 10th Duke of Hamilton for Hamilton Palace from the 1832 Erlestoke Park house sale, one of these is now in the Brooklyn Museum, New York, its pair sold Christie's London, 6 July 2000, lot 100 (£1,653,750 including premium), now in a private collection. King George IV (d.1830) also directly and indirectly purchased pietra dura cabinets from Hume; the present cabinet is closely related to a pair in the Royal Collection acquired from the George Watson Taylor sale of May 1925 for Carlton House and subsequently transferred to 'The Small Drawing Room' at Windsor Castle (Hugh Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, the Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's apartments at Windsor Castle, London, 2001, pp. 120 and 131, figs. 147 and 148, RCIN 31306 and 31307).
THE FONTHILL ABBEY SALE
This cabinet is recorded in the 1822 Christie's sale of the 'Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.', on the Fifth Day, lot 53,
'A Singularly Beautiful and Costly ARMOIRE, composed of Ebony, the centre supported by two fluted columns, with capitals of or-moulu, between which is a superb panel of Florentine mosaic; a vase of flowers, composed of the rarest gems, and a tablet of the same above; 4 small drawers with birds on each side: above, is a low glazed repository and a small door at each end, fronted with Florentine gems, the mouldings are of chased or-moulu, in rich and handsome taste' (Christie's, 'Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.', 1 October 1822 and nine following days)
The 1822 sale was postponed when Beckford found a buyer, John Farquhar, for Fonthill Abbey. However, as the acquisition of the Abbey did not relieve Beckford's financial difficulties, an extraordinary sale was conducted by Phillips in 1823 from which this cabinet sold on the 31st day, lot 1347 for £252, to Hume acting for Lord Grosvenor.
'A beautiful and costly ARMOIRE, formed of ebony, the centre supported by two fluted columns, with capitals of or-moulu, and enriched with a superb central panel of FLORENTINE MOSAIC; a vase of flowers, composed of the rarest gems, and a tablet of the same above; 4 small drawers with birds on each side; above, is a low glazed repository, and a small door at each end, fronted with Florentine gems; the mouldings are of chased or-moulu' (Phillips, op.cit.).
Interestingly, Hume who helped to compile the 1823 catalogue incorrectly described the doors on each side as '4 small drawers'.
The 1823 Phillips' sale was an exceptional event with a large number of wealthy and influential collectors represented in the saleroom. Hume acted for Beckford and his other clients purchasing more than a hundred lots in his own name, and from his correspondence with Beckford and the 10th Duke of Hamilton it is clear that he negotiated the acquisition of many further lots for his clients through the agency of other dealers. Of the lots purchased by Hume himself, more than half were for Beckford, ten were for the 10th Duke of Hamilton and seven were for Lord Grosvenor. The present cabinet is possibly one of the pieces that Hume describes in a letter from London to the 10th Duke of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace on 4 November 1823, thus
'I purchased many Lots for Lord Grosvenor chiefly Cabinets 4 Ebony ones in Michaels Gallery Mosaic One in the new Room the two Crystal Italian Cofffers The Small Do Engraved the Large Nautilus Shell Engraved Three Carved Ebony Tables a Mosaic coffer and other things - I have sent them off to Chester'
(Hamilton Archives, courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, NRAS 2177/Bundle 602).
EATON HALL
The present cabinet is almost certainly that listed in the earliest inventory of contents for Eaton Hall, dated 1885, as,
'1 4.6 Ebonized Florentine Cabinet with Ornamental Panels Mounted with Ormolu and Marble Top'
(Grosvenor Estate archive, Ms. EV951, Inventory of Eaton 1885).
It was subsequently recorded in the 20 October 1931 Declaration of Trust, which includes a list of chattels, as,
'A pietra dura cabinet, 56 in. wide
(The cabinet contains a cupboard in the centre, flanked with fluted columns and four drawers on either side. The upper part supported by fluted columns, contains a cupboard in the centre with glazed fall front, and smaller cupboards at the sides. The whole is richly mounted with chased ormolu, and is surmounted by a rouge marble slab
Estimated value 100.0.0, EA-18'
(Grosvenor Estate archive, Ms. EV1459, 1931 Declaration of Trust)
The cabinet was photographed in 1932 by Country Life in the Ball Room at Eaton Hall (unpublished).
THE CABINET AND ITS DESIGN
This present lot is derived from French models of the 1780s by ébénistes such as Adam Weisweiler (d.1820) although the design is very 'Beckfordian' the columns with idiosyncratic capitals. There is no mention of the marble top in the 1822 or 1823 sale catalogues and the cabinet is most likely to have had an ebony top (indicated by now redundant screw pockets). It is probable that it was updated with the present red marble by Robert Hume Jnr. for Lord Grosvenor after the 1823 sale. The Charlecote Park cabinet, also from the 'Crimson Drawing Room' at Fonthill Abbey (see above) retained its ebony top (National Trust 533017).
The cabinet is set with pietra dura panels, including one possibly made in the Grand Ducal workshops, Florence, in the late 17th century. The others date from the early 19th century, the decoration of flowers and birds reflecting late 17th and early 18th century Florentine work. They were made according to the relief technique developed in Florence under the influence of Giovanni Battista Foggini; this technique spread to the Gobelins factory in France when Florentine mosaicists went to work there. In the 19th century some of the products of the Gobelins workshop were dismantled and the complex mosaics reused by Hume who reset them on antiquarian furniture some of which was designed by Beckford.
Franchi was passionately interested in pietra dura, and it is likely with his connection to the lapidary workshops on the continent that he was supplying Hume with these panels. In 1814, Franchi received an important consignment of pietra dura from Paris that may have included 17th century specimens from the Gobelins workshop, and others from Italy (Ed. D.E. Ostergard, op.cit., p. 361).
We would like to thank Bet McLeod and Monsieur Hervé Obligi, marqueteur de pierres durese for their help in the compilation of this note.
This magnificent ebony side cabinet displaying vibrant pietra dura panels was almost certainly supplied by the fashionable London cabinet-maker and marchand-mercier, Robert Hume Snr., between 1815 and 1820, to the antiquarian collector William Beckford (d.1844) at his Gothick mansion, Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire. It was subsequently purchased by Robert Hume Jnr. acting for Robert, 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later 1st Marquess of Westminster (d.1845) from the Phillips' 1823 sale at Fonthill Abbey where it was recorded in the 'Crimson Drawing Room' (The Unique and Splendid Effects of Fonthill Abbey; the Extensive Assemblage of Costly and Interesting Property, which Adorns this Magnificent Structure, Phillips, 23 September-22 October 1823, lot 1347).
Beckford's relationship with Hume and Son was long standing, the firm supplying a diverse range of furniture. In November 1815, the accounts of Gregorio Franchi (d.1828), Beckford's companion and agent, and the principal contact between Hume and Beckford, reveal 'Items to be made by Mr. Hume', 'A Florentine cabinet, a cabinet for the Lancaster Gallery, a table for the amber cabinet, two oak side tables'; the term 'Florentine' or 'mosaic' used to denote pietra dura (Bet McLeod, 'A Celebrated Collector', Ed. Derek E. Ostergard, William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New Haven and London, 2002, p. 170). A second closely related pietra dura cabinet, presumably also supplied by Hume for the 'Crimson Drawing Room' at Fonthill (the same room as the present lot), was acquired by George Hammond Lucy and is now at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (Adriana Turpin, 'Filling the void: the development of Beckford's taste and the market in furniture', op.cit, pp.191 and 360, fig. 86).
As a designer and connoisseur, Franchi was well placed to assess Hume's expertise, praising the quality of the latter's 'Firenzi' pieces in a letter to Beckford dated 29 June 1815, 'Non dico una syllaba contra delle cabinetti e coffretto di Firenze - piu perfetto execuzione in questo genere un ho mi veduto' ('nothing can be said against the Florentine cabinets and coffers... more perfectly executed pieces of this type I have never seen') (Bodleian Library, Beckford Ms. C4, f.35). However, although Beckford and Franchi recognised Hume's ability, they were not pleased about the considerable prices the fashionable firm charged, Franchi noting, 'non e neccessario riportaire l'infinistibilita di alimentar il gran Gusto & gran Custo del Signor Hume' ('it is not necessary to repeat how costly it is to satisfy Mr. Hume's great taste') (Bodleian Library, Beckford Ms. c4, f.80, Letter from Franchi to Beckford, 21 October 1815).
Despite the expense, Beckford was consulting Hume and Son practically on a daily basis exacerbating his financial difficulties, and precipitating the eventual sale of Fonthill Abbey and its collections in 1823. In March 1819, Beckford wrote, 'Almost every day now I see Hume, and seeing him one sees objects of curiosity, and seeing them one always thinks them desirable; then one gives little commissions, and then one makes little purchases, and so piling up debts and deficits one marches towards an abyss as black as Death!' (Bet McLeod, op.cit., pp. 169-170).
Sumptuous neo-Baroque furniture embellished with pietra dura panels was so highly sought by Beckford and other wealthy collectors that Hume, the pre-eminent maker for this type of furniture, was constantly in demand. This cabinet forms part of an exceptional group of pietra dura furniture attributed to Hume. An 1876 inventory for Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, lists 15 pieces of pietra dura furniture acquired by Beckford's son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton Douglas, 10th Duke of Hamilton, some of which is by Hume, including a magnificent clock cabinet with 17th century pietra dura panels from the Gobelins workshop in Paris, made in 1824 and subsequently sold to Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster in 1882, a direct descendant of the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, now in the Gilbert collection (The Hamilton Palace Collection, Christie's London, 26 June 1882, lot 520; Victoria and Albert Museum LOAN: GILBERT.204-2008).
This clock cabinet was formerly at Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor's Cheshire seat, where it was photographed in the Ball Room together with the present cabinet by Country Life in 1932 (unpublished). The wealthy art connoisseur, George Watson Taylor (d.1841) of Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire was another enthusiastic collector of pietra dura cabinets commissioning a pair of cabinets from Hume in around 1825. These were later re-acquired by Hume as agent for the 10th Duke of Hamilton for Hamilton Palace from the 1832 Erlestoke Park house sale, one of these is now in the Brooklyn Museum, New York, its pair sold Christie's London, 6 July 2000, lot 100 (£1,653,750 including premium), now in a private collection. King George IV (d.1830) also directly and indirectly purchased pietra dura cabinets from Hume; the present cabinet is closely related to a pair in the Royal Collection acquired from the George Watson Taylor sale of May 1925 for Carlton House and subsequently transferred to 'The Small Drawing Room' at Windsor Castle (Hugh Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, the Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's apartments at Windsor Castle, London, 2001, pp. 120 and 131, figs. 147 and 148, RCIN 31306 and 31307).
THE FONTHILL ABBEY SALE
This cabinet is recorded in the 1822 Christie's sale of the 'Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.', on the Fifth Day, lot 53,
'A Singularly Beautiful and Costly ARMOIRE, composed of Ebony, the centre supported by two fluted columns, with capitals of or-moulu, between which is a superb panel of Florentine mosaic; a vase of flowers, composed of the rarest gems, and a tablet of the same above; 4 small drawers with birds on each side: above, is a low glazed repository and a small door at each end, fronted with Florentine gems, the mouldings are of chased or-moulu, in rich and handsome taste' (Christie's, 'Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.', 1 October 1822 and nine following days)
The 1822 sale was postponed when Beckford found a buyer, John Farquhar, for Fonthill Abbey. However, as the acquisition of the Abbey did not relieve Beckford's financial difficulties, an extraordinary sale was conducted by Phillips in 1823 from which this cabinet sold on the 31st day, lot 1347 for £252, to Hume acting for Lord Grosvenor.
'A beautiful and costly ARMOIRE, formed of ebony, the centre supported by two fluted columns, with capitals of or-moulu, and enriched with a superb central panel of FLORENTINE MOSAIC; a vase of flowers, composed of the rarest gems, and a tablet of the same above; 4 small drawers with birds on each side; above, is a low glazed repository, and a small door at each end, fronted with Florentine gems; the mouldings are of chased or-moulu' (Phillips, op.cit.).
Interestingly, Hume who helped to compile the 1823 catalogue incorrectly described the doors on each side as '4 small drawers'.
The 1823 Phillips' sale was an exceptional event with a large number of wealthy and influential collectors represented in the saleroom. Hume acted for Beckford and his other clients purchasing more than a hundred lots in his own name, and from his correspondence with Beckford and the 10th Duke of Hamilton it is clear that he negotiated the acquisition of many further lots for his clients through the agency of other dealers. Of the lots purchased by Hume himself, more than half were for Beckford, ten were for the 10th Duke of Hamilton and seven were for Lord Grosvenor. The present cabinet is possibly one of the pieces that Hume describes in a letter from London to the 10th Duke of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace on 4 November 1823, thus
'I purchased many Lots for Lord Grosvenor chiefly Cabinets 4 Ebony ones in Michaels Gallery Mosaic One in the new Room the two Crystal Italian Cofffers The Small Do Engraved the Large Nautilus Shell Engraved Three Carved Ebony Tables a Mosaic coffer and other things - I have sent them off to Chester'
(Hamilton Archives, courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, NRAS 2177/Bundle 602).
EATON HALL
The present cabinet is almost certainly that listed in the earliest inventory of contents for Eaton Hall, dated 1885, as,
'1 4.6 Ebonized Florentine Cabinet with Ornamental Panels Mounted with Ormolu and Marble Top'
(Grosvenor Estate archive, Ms. EV951, Inventory of Eaton 1885).
It was subsequently recorded in the 20 October 1931 Declaration of Trust, which includes a list of chattels, as,
'A pietra dura cabinet, 56 in. wide
(The cabinet contains a cupboard in the centre, flanked with fluted columns and four drawers on either side. The upper part supported by fluted columns, contains a cupboard in the centre with glazed fall front, and smaller cupboards at the sides. The whole is richly mounted with chased ormolu, and is surmounted by a rouge marble slab
Estimated value 100.0.0, EA-18'
(Grosvenor Estate archive, Ms. EV1459, 1931 Declaration of Trust)
The cabinet was photographed in 1932 by Country Life in the Ball Room at Eaton Hall (unpublished).
THE CABINET AND ITS DESIGN
This present lot is derived from French models of the 1780s by ébénistes such as Adam Weisweiler (d.1820) although the design is very 'Beckfordian' the columns with idiosyncratic capitals. There is no mention of the marble top in the 1822 or 1823 sale catalogues and the cabinet is most likely to have had an ebony top (indicated by now redundant screw pockets). It is probable that it was updated with the present red marble by Robert Hume Jnr. for Lord Grosvenor after the 1823 sale. The Charlecote Park cabinet, also from the 'Crimson Drawing Room' at Fonthill Abbey (see above) retained its ebony top (National Trust 533017).
The cabinet is set with pietra dura panels, including one possibly made in the Grand Ducal workshops, Florence, in the late 17th century. The others date from the early 19th century, the decoration of flowers and birds reflecting late 17th and early 18th century Florentine work. They were made according to the relief technique developed in Florence under the influence of Giovanni Battista Foggini; this technique spread to the Gobelins factory in France when Florentine mosaicists went to work there. In the 19th century some of the products of the Gobelins workshop were dismantled and the complex mosaics reused by Hume who reset them on antiquarian furniture some of which was designed by Beckford.
Franchi was passionately interested in pietra dura, and it is likely with his connection to the lapidary workshops on the continent that he was supplying Hume with these panels. In 1814, Franchi received an important consignment of pietra dura from Paris that may have included 17th century specimens from the Gobelins workshop, and others from Italy (Ed. D.E. Ostergard, op.cit., p. 361).
We would like to thank Bet McLeod and Monsieur Hervé Obligi, marqueteur de pierres durese for their help in the compilation of this note.