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Lot Essay
James Orrock (d. 1913) was an artist and broker of early 20th century English taste whose high-profile connoisseurship gave him acceptance within a wealthy Victorian society. Among his clients was William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (d. 1925) who between 1904 and 1912 bought almost all of Orrock's art collection, as well as numerous works by the artist himself.
By the 1890s, Lord Leverhulme had committed himself to forming a collection representative of the best of British art - an endeavour that lasted for the last thirty years of his life. His pursuit of Georgian furniture was virtually unparalleled at the time. His collections are now largely housed in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, a museum that he established in Port Sunlight in 1922.
The settee remained at The Hill, Leverhulme's home in Hampstead, and was later moved to Thornton Manor in Merseyside. A 1924 invoice from the London dealer, M. Harris & Sons shows the settee was extensively repaired by them at the time.
A similar double-chairback settee with eagles' headed arms and shell crests was in the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. and is illustrated in H. Cescinski, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, n.d. (1909), vol. II, p. 23, fig. 5. Another was sold anonymously, Sotheby's, London, 4 July 1997, lot 31 (£68,600). A further example was sold Christie's, New York, 11 October 2007, lot 70 ($145,000).
By the 1890s, Lord Leverhulme had committed himself to forming a collection representative of the best of British art - an endeavour that lasted for the last thirty years of his life. His pursuit of Georgian furniture was virtually unparalleled at the time. His collections are now largely housed in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, a museum that he established in Port Sunlight in 1922.
The settee remained at The Hill, Leverhulme's home in Hampstead, and was later moved to Thornton Manor in Merseyside. A 1924 invoice from the London dealer, M. Harris & Sons shows the settee was extensively repaired by them at the time.
A similar double-chairback settee with eagles' headed arms and shell crests was in the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. and is illustrated in H. Cescinski, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, n.d. (1909), vol. II, p. 23, fig. 5. Another was sold anonymously, Sotheby's, London, 4 July 1997, lot 31 (£68,600). A further example was sold Christie's, New York, 11 October 2007, lot 70 ($145,000).