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Lot Essay
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON PROVENANCE
The desk was noted to have been 'late the property of the Duke of Wellington' when it came into the hands of French and Company in 1919. The wording leaves open to interpretation whether the desk formed part of the collections of Arthur Charles Wellesley (1849-1934), who was at the time 4th Duke, or whether it may have belonged to one of his predecessors. The 4th Duke was the grandson of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, legendary victor against Napoleon's army at Waterloo in 1815. In 1817, a grateful Britain provided him with funds to buy a house worthy of a national hero whereupon he decided upon Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire. In the same year, he purchased Apsley House at '1 Hyde Park', London. The Duke spent copious amounts expanding the house in 1819-20 and again in 1828, following his appointment as Prime Minister. He remained at Apsley until such renovations forced him to move to the Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street. He died at Walmer Castle, Kent, his residence as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. His funeral procession was the greatest Britain had ever seen.
To date, no firm evidence has been found to support the Duke of Wellington provenance, although there are few records to consult. The desk does not appear in two early inventories at Apsley House, prepared in 1854 and 1857 when the 2nd Duke, Arthur Wellesley, was in residence. Upon his death (he was childless), the title reverted to the sons of his younger brother, Charles. The 3rd Duke (d. 1900) for a time lived at Conholt Park and the 4th Duke (d. 1934) at Ewhurst Park, Hampshire before settling in to Stratfield Saye. The desk does not appear in inventories at Stratfield Saye (1905) or Ewhurst (1917), however, Conholt and the 3rd Duke's London home at 27 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, are two further possible locations that have not been examined. Stratfield Saye remains the seat of the 7th Duke of Wellington. Apsley House was given to the nation in 1948.
THE DESIGN
The desk's magnificent design reflects the inventive fusing of gothic, Chinese and rococo ('modern') vocabularies promoted by cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale and his contemporaries in the mid-18th century. A pattern for a 'Library Table' (plate LXXXV) in Chippendale's Director (1762) shows a similar use of cluster-columns and fret borders. The desk's design is perhaps even more aligned with Ince and Mayhew's pattern for 'bureau tables' (plate XLII) in their Universal System of Household Furniture published the same year; the lower table in the plate is notable for its corresponding kneehole design and scrolled angles. The desk's foliate angles also relate to the documented commode supplied by another London maker, William Gomm, for 5th Lord Leigh at Stoneleigh Abbey in around 1763 (originally sold for Lord Leigh by Christie's in 1962 and most recently sold at Christie's, 5 July 1990, lot 149).
The desk was noted to have been 'late the property of the Duke of Wellington' when it came into the hands of French and Company in 1919. The wording leaves open to interpretation whether the desk formed part of the collections of Arthur Charles Wellesley (1849-1934), who was at the time 4th Duke, or whether it may have belonged to one of his predecessors. The 4th Duke was the grandson of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, legendary victor against Napoleon's army at Waterloo in 1815. In 1817, a grateful Britain provided him with funds to buy a house worthy of a national hero whereupon he decided upon Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire. In the same year, he purchased Apsley House at '1 Hyde Park', London. The Duke spent copious amounts expanding the house in 1819-20 and again in 1828, following his appointment as Prime Minister. He remained at Apsley until such renovations forced him to move to the Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street. He died at Walmer Castle, Kent, his residence as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. His funeral procession was the greatest Britain had ever seen.
To date, no firm evidence has been found to support the Duke of Wellington provenance, although there are few records to consult. The desk does not appear in two early inventories at Apsley House, prepared in 1854 and 1857 when the 2nd Duke, Arthur Wellesley, was in residence. Upon his death (he was childless), the title reverted to the sons of his younger brother, Charles. The 3rd Duke (d. 1900) for a time lived at Conholt Park and the 4th Duke (d. 1934) at Ewhurst Park, Hampshire before settling in to Stratfield Saye. The desk does not appear in inventories at Stratfield Saye (1905) or Ewhurst (1917), however, Conholt and the 3rd Duke's London home at 27 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, are two further possible locations that have not been examined. Stratfield Saye remains the seat of the 7th Duke of Wellington. Apsley House was given to the nation in 1948.
THE DESIGN
The desk's magnificent design reflects the inventive fusing of gothic, Chinese and rococo ('modern') vocabularies promoted by cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale and his contemporaries in the mid-18th century. A pattern for a 'Library Table' (plate LXXXV) in Chippendale's Director (1762) shows a similar use of cluster-columns and fret borders. The desk's design is perhaps even more aligned with Ince and Mayhew's pattern for 'bureau tables' (plate XLII) in their Universal System of Household Furniture published the same year; the lower table in the plate is notable for its corresponding kneehole design and scrolled angles. The desk's foliate angles also relate to the documented commode supplied by another London maker, William Gomm, for 5th Lord Leigh at Stoneleigh Abbey in around 1763 (originally sold for Lord Leigh by Christie's in 1962 and most recently sold at Christie's, 5 July 1990, lot 149).