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拍品專文
SAMUEL GREATHEED, BERTIE GREATHEED AND GUY’S CLIFFE
The desk was probably commissioned by Sir Samuel Greatheed (d. 1765), the eldest son and heir of a West Indian merchant, John Greatheed, owner of Canaries Sugar Plantation at Basseterre, St. Kitts, either for his country seat, Guy’s Cliffe, Warwickshire or London town house in Hanover Square. In 1540, John Leland wrote of Guy’s Cliffe, 'It is the abode of Pleasure; a place delightful to the Muses’. The Greatheed fortune was built upon sugar production, similarly to that of the Lascelles family at Harewood House, Yorkshire where Chippendale was the presiding cabinet-maker. In 1739 Sir Samuel inherited his father's sugar plantation but continued to live in England leaving the management of the plantation to his younger brothers, Caister, Marmaduke and Richard. In 1747, Sir Samuel was returned for Coventry as a government supporter on the interest of Lord Archer, part of the Whigite coterie. The same year he married Lady Mary Bertie (d. 1774), eldest daughter of Peregrine 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Jane, co-heir of Sir John Brownlow of Belton, Lincolnshire. Sir Samuel acquired Guy’s Cliffe and surrounding lands between 1750 and 1751, and for the next five years, using wealth generated from the plantation, restored and built two additional wings at Guy’s Cliffe. Sir Samuel’s passion for gothic is illustrated in the refurbishment of the stable block, which included a roof reinforced in brick and timber in Gothic design, and the construction of the upper part of the Chapel tower in 1764 with crocketted pinnacles and a battlement with frieze. The total cost of improvements was £6000, and the property value increased to £36,504.
When he died in 1765 his widow was left the house and estate for life 'together with all my Household Goods, Pictures, China, Linen and Furniture’. She remained at Guy’s Cliffe until her death in 1774 when Bertie Greatheed, her second son, succeeded to the estate, the latter embarking on a period of refurbishment and forming a superb collection of paintings, and it is conceivable the desk may have been acquired by him (G. Morley, op. cit., p. 17). Bertie Greatheed's son, also Bertie, died prematurely, and the estate passed to the latter’s daughter, Ann Caroline, who married Lord Charles Greatheed Bertie Percy in 1822. In 1925, the present desk was photographed in situ at Guy’s Cliffe in the Front Hall (illustrated). In April 1946, most of the contents of the mansion were sold at auction although the present desk remained in the family (Locke & England, 'Guy’s Cliffe, Warwick; Catalogue of the Surplus Antique and Modern Furniture…’, 3-5 April 1946). The mansion fell into deep disrepair and by the 1950s was in ruins. The final blow came in 1992 during filming by Granada Television when a fire scene got out of control and most of the remains of the house burnt down.
THE FASHION FOR GOTHICK
This impressive library desk in the 'Gothick’ manner is related to Thomas Chippendale’s (d. 1779) patterns for 'Library Tables’, published in the 1754 first edition of the Director, in particular plate LVIII, which displays flanking cluster columns, and plate LV, a similar eared rectangular top. The taste for gothic furniture was undoubtedly inspired by Batty Langley’s Gothic Architecture, first published in 1742, and also possibly to improvements made to Strawberry Hill, Middlesex from 1747 by the antiquarian, Horace Walpole (d. 1797). The Library at Strawberry Hill, built in 1754, was central to Walpole's antiquarian and scholarly endeavour, and was the most seriously Gothic of all the rooms. Bookcases for the room were designed by John Chute (d. 1776) who based them on a doorway in old St Paul's Cathedral, and the design of the chimneypiece derived from medieval tombs in Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. Between 1750 and 1765, Chippendale and other cabinet-makers were producing a plethora of Gothic furniture to meet fashionable demand (in some examples this might be the inclusion of simple Gothic blind fret panels on a plain rectangular form). Another more ornate Gothic double pedestal desk, made by George Church to James Paine’s (d. 1789) design in 1753 for £21, is at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk (National Trust inventory no. 1398448).
'Library Tables’ were described by Chippendale as, 'generally made with doors on one side of the Table, and upright sliding partitions, (to answer the different sizes of books) and drawers on the other side. Those tables are so plain and intelligible, that no more is needed to be said about them. They frequently stand in the middle of a room, which requires both sides to be made useful’. The pull-out slides as defined above are present on this example, and seen in another Chippendale drawing in the Metropolitan Museum collection, New York (accession no. 20.40.2(29). By the 3rd edition of the Director (1762) 'Library Tables’ had become smaller, and the design more intricate with French rococo and classical motifs replacing Gothic and Chinese ornament (Symonds, op. cit., p. 12 and pl. 37). An important library table with neo-classical ornamentation commissioned by John Martin (d. 1794) from Chippendale, circa 1773, for his new house, Ham Court, Worcestershire sold Christie’s, London, 19 June 1980, lot 140. However, some designs from the 1st edition were reissued in the 3rd demonstrating the longevity and success of these Gothic 'Library Tables’.
A comparable desk is recorded on 1 November 1779 in the Day Book of Paul Methuen (d. 1795) for Corsham Court, Wiltshire, as, 'Pd Mr. Haig by draft for the Library Table £18.16.0’ (Methuen, op. cit., p. 81 and plate 38). Christopher Gilbert suggests Chippendale’s possible involvement in earlier schemes for Corsham, and speculatively attributes the desk to Chippendale the Younger (d. 1822) who favoured the use of reeded colonettes (Gilbert, op. cit., vol. I, p. 288, and vol. II, fig. 445). The payment was made twelve days before Chippendale’s demise to the firm’s financial partner, Thomas Haig. The Gothic spandrels are probably a later addition to integrate the desk with the Gothic decoration of the Library at Corsham, built by John Nash (d. 1835) around 1800 (Methuen, op. cit.).
Chippendale noted that 'Ornaments are intended for Brass-Work’, and the drawer handles and escutcheons of the present desk are contemporaneous (Symonds, op. cit.). Although the craftsmanship is not identical to Chippendale’s 'Designs of Handles & Escutcheons for Brass Work’ published in the Director, the brass work is very similar to designs in the Janet brass hardware catalogue published in the early 1760s, specifically plates 41, 53 and 130 (Crom, op. cit.).
The desk was probably commissioned by Sir Samuel Greatheed (d. 1765), the eldest son and heir of a West Indian merchant, John Greatheed, owner of Canaries Sugar Plantation at Basseterre, St. Kitts, either for his country seat, Guy’s Cliffe, Warwickshire or London town house in Hanover Square. In 1540, John Leland wrote of Guy’s Cliffe, 'It is the abode of Pleasure; a place delightful to the Muses’. The Greatheed fortune was built upon sugar production, similarly to that of the Lascelles family at Harewood House, Yorkshire where Chippendale was the presiding cabinet-maker. In 1739 Sir Samuel inherited his father's sugar plantation but continued to live in England leaving the management of the plantation to his younger brothers, Caister, Marmaduke and Richard. In 1747, Sir Samuel was returned for Coventry as a government supporter on the interest of Lord Archer, part of the Whigite coterie. The same year he married Lady Mary Bertie (d. 1774), eldest daughter of Peregrine 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Jane, co-heir of Sir John Brownlow of Belton, Lincolnshire. Sir Samuel acquired Guy’s Cliffe and surrounding lands between 1750 and 1751, and for the next five years, using wealth generated from the plantation, restored and built two additional wings at Guy’s Cliffe. Sir Samuel’s passion for gothic is illustrated in the refurbishment of the stable block, which included a roof reinforced in brick and timber in Gothic design, and the construction of the upper part of the Chapel tower in 1764 with crocketted pinnacles and a battlement with frieze. The total cost of improvements was £6000, and the property value increased to £36,504.
When he died in 1765 his widow was left the house and estate for life 'together with all my Household Goods, Pictures, China, Linen and Furniture’. She remained at Guy’s Cliffe until her death in 1774 when Bertie Greatheed, her second son, succeeded to the estate, the latter embarking on a period of refurbishment and forming a superb collection of paintings, and it is conceivable the desk may have been acquired by him (G. Morley, op. cit., p. 17). Bertie Greatheed's son, also Bertie, died prematurely, and the estate passed to the latter’s daughter, Ann Caroline, who married Lord Charles Greatheed Bertie Percy in 1822. In 1925, the present desk was photographed in situ at Guy’s Cliffe in the Front Hall (illustrated). In April 1946, most of the contents of the mansion were sold at auction although the present desk remained in the family (Locke & England, 'Guy’s Cliffe, Warwick; Catalogue of the Surplus Antique and Modern Furniture…’, 3-5 April 1946). The mansion fell into deep disrepair and by the 1950s was in ruins. The final blow came in 1992 during filming by Granada Television when a fire scene got out of control and most of the remains of the house burnt down.
THE FASHION FOR GOTHICK
This impressive library desk in the 'Gothick’ manner is related to Thomas Chippendale’s (d. 1779) patterns for 'Library Tables’, published in the 1754 first edition of the Director, in particular plate LVIII, which displays flanking cluster columns, and plate LV, a similar eared rectangular top. The taste for gothic furniture was undoubtedly inspired by Batty Langley’s Gothic Architecture, first published in 1742, and also possibly to improvements made to Strawberry Hill, Middlesex from 1747 by the antiquarian, Horace Walpole (d. 1797). The Library at Strawberry Hill, built in 1754, was central to Walpole's antiquarian and scholarly endeavour, and was the most seriously Gothic of all the rooms. Bookcases for the room were designed by John Chute (d. 1776) who based them on a doorway in old St Paul's Cathedral, and the design of the chimneypiece derived from medieval tombs in Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. Between 1750 and 1765, Chippendale and other cabinet-makers were producing a plethora of Gothic furniture to meet fashionable demand (in some examples this might be the inclusion of simple Gothic blind fret panels on a plain rectangular form). Another more ornate Gothic double pedestal desk, made by George Church to James Paine’s (d. 1789) design in 1753 for £21, is at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk (National Trust inventory no. 1398448).
'Library Tables’ were described by Chippendale as, 'generally made with doors on one side of the Table, and upright sliding partitions, (to answer the different sizes of books) and drawers on the other side. Those tables are so plain and intelligible, that no more is needed to be said about them. They frequently stand in the middle of a room, which requires both sides to be made useful’. The pull-out slides as defined above are present on this example, and seen in another Chippendale drawing in the Metropolitan Museum collection, New York (accession no. 20.40.2(29). By the 3rd edition of the Director (1762) 'Library Tables’ had become smaller, and the design more intricate with French rococo and classical motifs replacing Gothic and Chinese ornament (Symonds, op. cit., p. 12 and pl. 37). An important library table with neo-classical ornamentation commissioned by John Martin (d. 1794) from Chippendale, circa 1773, for his new house, Ham Court, Worcestershire sold Christie’s, London, 19 June 1980, lot 140. However, some designs from the 1st edition were reissued in the 3rd demonstrating the longevity and success of these Gothic 'Library Tables’.
A comparable desk is recorded on 1 November 1779 in the Day Book of Paul Methuen (d. 1795) for Corsham Court, Wiltshire, as, 'Pd Mr. Haig by draft for the Library Table £18.16.0’ (Methuen, op. cit., p. 81 and plate 38). Christopher Gilbert suggests Chippendale’s possible involvement in earlier schemes for Corsham, and speculatively attributes the desk to Chippendale the Younger (d. 1822) who favoured the use of reeded colonettes (Gilbert, op. cit., vol. I, p. 288, and vol. II, fig. 445). The payment was made twelve days before Chippendale’s demise to the firm’s financial partner, Thomas Haig. The Gothic spandrels are probably a later addition to integrate the desk with the Gothic decoration of the Library at Corsham, built by John Nash (d. 1835) around 1800 (Methuen, op. cit.).
Chippendale noted that 'Ornaments are intended for Brass-Work’, and the drawer handles and escutcheons of the present desk are contemporaneous (Symonds, op. cit.). Although the craftsmanship is not identical to Chippendale’s 'Designs of Handles & Escutcheons for Brass Work’ published in the Director, the brass work is very similar to designs in the Janet brass hardware catalogue published in the early 1760s, specifically plates 41, 53 and 130 (Crom, op. cit.).