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Lot Essay
With refined carving and a delicate form influenced by the fashionable ‘French’ taste, this comprehensive suite reflects the prevailing sway of neoclassicism in England in the latter part of the 18th century. The suite was conceived for the drawing room of Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire and almost certainly supplied by the London firm of Ince and Mayhew for the nabob Thomas Rumbold (1736–1791). The excellent quality and unbroken provenance of the suite certainly indicate a commission from the choicest makers and a number of payments from Rumbold to the firm from 1774 onwards realistically connect Ince and Mayhew to this most elegant of commissions.
Richly styled with wreaths, paterae and crisp entrelac motif, the design of this suite relates to the broader taste for neoclassical decoration married with Gallic form espoused in the residences of Britain’s most discerning and fashionable patrons. Within the documented oeuvre of Ince and Mayhew a number of directly comparable pieces to the present suite exist. As well as appearing frequently as a marquetry device on case furniture produced by the firm, the husk and patera cresting of the toprail of the suite is found on an armchair and a sofa, originally from a larger suite, made for the 3rd Earl of Darnley at Cobham Hall, Kent (illustrated. C. Cator & H. Roberts, Industry and Ingenuity: The Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew, London, 2023, p. 362, fig. 319 & 360). The Darnley suite likely predates the Rumbold suite by some five years and both present characteristics that compare with the chair production of Thomas Chippendale in the early 1770s, particularly to the suite supplied by Chippendale to Sir Penistone Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (1748-1819) for the saloon of Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, circa 1773, Brocket interestingly being only 9 miles or so from Rumbold’s seat at Woodhall Park.
The entrelac carving to the rails, and stop-fluted front legs with collars punctuated by flowerheads between beaded bands are found on a suite of seat furniture including ten armchairs and a sofa (illustrated op. cit. Cator & Roberts, pp. 364 & 376, figs. 327 & 376) supplied by Ince and Mayhew to Lord Palmerston at Broadlands in 1771, indicating that this type of neoclassical decoration was popular with the firm’s clients throughout the 1770s and into the early 1780s. Indeed the delicately shaped back of the Rumbold sofa is related to and derives from earlier forms devised by the firm and ultimately informed by French models, including the pair of sofas supplied in 1769 to the Earl of Coventry at Croome Court, currently preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. nos. 58.75.21 & 58.75.21) and a sofa supplied to the Earl of Upper Ossory in 1775 (illustrated op. cit. Cator & Roberts, p. 374, fig. 356).
Sir Thomas Rumbold was one of the more notorious nabobs in the history of British India and from 1752 acquired a considerable fortune. In England this was utilised for the customarily corrupt acquisition of parliamentary seats and in India to secure the Governorship of Madras in 1778, gathering along the way a number of influential enemies, including Warren Hastings the Governor of Bengal. Rumbold required a country seat of appropriate prestige and having acquired the Woodhall estate in 1774 he commissioned Thomas Leverton to construct a mansion in the neatest Adam style which was completed in 1782 shortly after Rumbold’s return to England from India in 1781. Rumbold’s account at Gosling’s records a number of substantial payments to Ince and Mayhew from 1774 until after his death in 1794, likely for both his London house at Queen Anne Street and later at Woodhall Park. Though no bills exist, no payments to cabinetmakers other than Ince and Mayhew are recorded, indicating a complete reliance on the firm for the furnishing of Rumbold’s residences. Probably supplied for the drawing room at Woodhall, this suite, with the additional two armchairs, further large armchair, four stools and music stool that made up the original delivery, featured alongside a significant number of fine pieces of seat and case furniture bearing hallmarks of the firm’s production. Three armchairs from the suite are photographed in a Country Life article of 1925 in the library room at Woodhall Park. Two of the armchairs and one of the larger armchairs were sold by Colonel Abel Henry Smith at Christie’s London on 29 June 1920, lots 93-94. In the 1931 Sotheby’s sale, the pieces offered here were sold alongside a music stool and four stools. The stools were described as ‘painted white’ whereas the larger armchair offered here was described as ‘painted and gilt’.
Richly styled with wreaths, paterae and crisp entrelac motif, the design of this suite relates to the broader taste for neoclassical decoration married with Gallic form espoused in the residences of Britain’s most discerning and fashionable patrons. Within the documented oeuvre of Ince and Mayhew a number of directly comparable pieces to the present suite exist. As well as appearing frequently as a marquetry device on case furniture produced by the firm, the husk and patera cresting of the toprail of the suite is found on an armchair and a sofa, originally from a larger suite, made for the 3rd Earl of Darnley at Cobham Hall, Kent (illustrated. C. Cator & H. Roberts, Industry and Ingenuity: The Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew, London, 2023, p. 362, fig. 319 & 360). The Darnley suite likely predates the Rumbold suite by some five years and both present characteristics that compare with the chair production of Thomas Chippendale in the early 1770s, particularly to the suite supplied by Chippendale to Sir Penistone Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (1748-1819) for the saloon of Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, circa 1773, Brocket interestingly being only 9 miles or so from Rumbold’s seat at Woodhall Park.
The entrelac carving to the rails, and stop-fluted front legs with collars punctuated by flowerheads between beaded bands are found on a suite of seat furniture including ten armchairs and a sofa (illustrated op. cit. Cator & Roberts, pp. 364 & 376, figs. 327 & 376) supplied by Ince and Mayhew to Lord Palmerston at Broadlands in 1771, indicating that this type of neoclassical decoration was popular with the firm’s clients throughout the 1770s and into the early 1780s. Indeed the delicately shaped back of the Rumbold sofa is related to and derives from earlier forms devised by the firm and ultimately informed by French models, including the pair of sofas supplied in 1769 to the Earl of Coventry at Croome Court, currently preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. nos. 58.75.21 & 58.75.21) and a sofa supplied to the Earl of Upper Ossory in 1775 (illustrated op. cit. Cator & Roberts, p. 374, fig. 356).
Sir Thomas Rumbold was one of the more notorious nabobs in the history of British India and from 1752 acquired a considerable fortune. In England this was utilised for the customarily corrupt acquisition of parliamentary seats and in India to secure the Governorship of Madras in 1778, gathering along the way a number of influential enemies, including Warren Hastings the Governor of Bengal. Rumbold required a country seat of appropriate prestige and having acquired the Woodhall estate in 1774 he commissioned Thomas Leverton to construct a mansion in the neatest Adam style which was completed in 1782 shortly after Rumbold’s return to England from India in 1781. Rumbold’s account at Gosling’s records a number of substantial payments to Ince and Mayhew from 1774 until after his death in 1794, likely for both his London house at Queen Anne Street and later at Woodhall Park. Though no bills exist, no payments to cabinetmakers other than Ince and Mayhew are recorded, indicating a complete reliance on the firm for the furnishing of Rumbold’s residences. Probably supplied for the drawing room at Woodhall, this suite, with the additional two armchairs, further large armchair, four stools and music stool that made up the original delivery, featured alongside a significant number of fine pieces of seat and case furniture bearing hallmarks of the firm’s production. Three armchairs from the suite are photographed in a Country Life article of 1925 in the library room at Woodhall Park. Two of the armchairs and one of the larger armchairs were sold by Colonel Abel Henry Smith at Christie’s London on 29 June 1920, lots 93-94. In the 1931 Sotheby’s sale, the pieces offered here were sold alongside a music stool and four stools. The stools were described as ‘painted white’ whereas the larger armchair offered here was described as ‘painted and gilt’.