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Lot Essay
Exquisitely detailed with a profusion of ornament, these cornucopia wall brackets are masterful survivals of Philadelphia's Classical style. Philadelphia is renowned for its specialist carvers during the second half of the eighteenth century and this pair of brackets illustrates the continuing vitality of this workforce in the early nineteenth century. Symbolic of abundance and prosperity, the cornucopia motif was widely adopted during the Classical era in America, particularly in New York and Philadelphia. The attribution of these brackets to Philadelphia is based on their close resemblance to four other known sets, three of which have family histories in the vicinity of Philadelphia. These comprise a single example, originally one of a pair, that descended in the Phillips family (now in a private collection), a pair that descended in the Stevenson and Easby families (see Freeman's, 21 November 2010, lot 586, one of which is illustrated in William MacPherson Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture (Washington D.C., 1935), pl. 458) and a pair owned by the Ridgely family of Baltimore and now in the collections of Hampton National Historic Site (see Donna Glenn, "A Rich Legacy: A Pair of Museum Exhibits Explore Baltimore's Furniture-Making Past," Antique Monthly (April 1993), p. 32). A fourth pair is owned by the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust and on display at Edgewater, in Barrytown, New York (see William Nathaniel Banks, "Edgewater on the Hudson River," The Magazine Antiques (June 1982), p. 1401, pl. II and Laura Beach, "Hudson River Classics: Edgewater and Richard Hampton Jenrette," The Magazine Antiques (January/February 2012), p. 158, fig. 6).
The opposing double twist in the stem of each horn is a particularly distinctive and sophisticated detail. Such a sculptural and robust treatment of the horns is also seen in the rendition of dolphins in Philadelphia and New York Classical furniture. In Philadelphia, Anthony G. Quervelle (1789-1856), a French-born cabinetmaker who arrived in Philadelphia in 1817, appears to have been the most prolific user of such devices and several sofas and tables attributed to his shop display dolphin supports with pronounced twists in the bodies and tails (Robert C. Smith, "Furniture by Anthony G. Quervelle," The Magazine Antiques, Part I (September 1964), pp. 308-309, figs. 11, 12, Part III (August 1973), p. 260 and Part V (March 1974), pp. 512-513). New York craftsmen, perhaps to a lesser extent, also embellished their forms with twisted-bodied dolphins, a practice seen on a small group of sofas, one of which is lot 109 in this sale.
The opposing double twist in the stem of each horn is a particularly distinctive and sophisticated detail. Such a sculptural and robust treatment of the horns is also seen in the rendition of dolphins in Philadelphia and New York Classical furniture. In Philadelphia, Anthony G. Quervelle (1789-1856), a French-born cabinetmaker who arrived in Philadelphia in 1817, appears to have been the most prolific user of such devices and several sofas and tables attributed to his shop display dolphin supports with pronounced twists in the bodies and tails (Robert C. Smith, "Furniture by Anthony G. Quervelle," The Magazine Antiques, Part I (September 1964), pp. 308-309, figs. 11, 12, Part III (August 1973), p. 260 and Part V (March 1974), pp. 512-513). New York craftsmen, perhaps to a lesser extent, also embellished their forms with twisted-bodied dolphins, a practice seen on a small group of sofas, one of which is lot 109 in this sale.