A George III statuary marble, Siena, Spanish brocatelle and inlaid marble chimney piece, circa 1780

A George III statuary marble, Siena, Spanish brocatelle and inlaid marble chimney piece, circa 1780

the shallow mantel of breakfronted outline with moulded underside further carved with a bead-and-reel moulding and inlaid dentil detailing, the central tablet carved with a classical vase with birds-head handles issuing berried-leaf swags tied to the corners with ribbons, flanked by inlaid panels with ribbon-tied bell-flower swage and rosettes and with leaf and bead-and-reel carved mouldings between urn-form outer tablets atop Ionic-capped tapering pilasters, further inlaid with ribbon-tied bell-flower garlands framed by Siena marble panels with a leaf-carved and fluted inner slip, on block bases

159cm high, 195cm wide; 5ft. 2 5/8in., 6ft. 4 3/4in.
Provenance

Private Collection, Eaton Square, London;
S. Jon Gerstenfeld, Washington D.C.;
Chesney's, London;
Acquired from Hotspur Ltd., London, 3 October 2003.
This fine neoclassical chimneypiece is almost certainly by the same hand as one in situ in the Library at Shropham Hall, Norfolk and illustrated in Jeremy Musson's article for Country Life, 24th February 2005, pp 76-80. The two chimneypieces are almost identical with the exception of the inlay around the bell-flower swags to the jambs which are formed of pearls in the Shropham example as opposed to a continuous line in the current lot. A further finely executed chimneypiece which appears to be of the same date also incorporating Siena marble with classical motifs and inlay is illustrated in the Dining Room of Shropham, interestingly both are of the same shallow form as the current lot. Unfortunately little is known of the architect behind Shropham Hall which was, as discussed in Jeremy Musson's article, likely built by John Barker (1698-1756), possibly remodelling an earlier house in the 1720s and also appears to have undergone further alterations both to the exterior and interior from the mid-18th century. The library where the near identical chimneypiece is located has a rococo plasterwork ceiling from the 1750s though the style of the chimney would indicate that it was introduced in the last quarter of the eighteenth century when a neoclassical portico is thought to have been added to the front.

This chimneypiece relates to a number of designs by Robert Adam for the Adelphi, London. The drop swag motifs to the jambs and swag and rosette decoration to the frieze can be seen in different formats in various chimneypiece designs for this, perhaps his most famous commission. The present chimneypiece shares many characteristics in design to a drawing by Adam inscribed Drawing Room of No. 1 East Corner, on the [Royal] Terrace, Adelphi held in the Sir John Soane Museum London, and in addition to the above characteristics has urn tablets atop the jambs. A further chimney from the Adelphi, illustrated by Arthur T Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Vol. II, p. 38, displays similar Ionic capitals heading the columnar formed uprights. The eagle-headed urn and scrolled foliage found on the central tablet can be related to Adam's ceiling designs and the foliage related closely to a chimneypiece in the Saloon at Nostell Priory, see Eileen Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam, Yale, 2001, p. 205, fig. 300.