This pair of tables, with their boldly canted corners and massive fluted legs, have a distinctive cubic parquetry top very much in the manner of Henry Hill of Marlborough.  As Lucy Wood points out, “large-scale lozenge parquetry… seems to have been a specialty of Hill’s, with or without the addition of marquetry,” signaling his possible authorship of the tables. Carlton Hobbs LLC The tables are also interesting for their mix of carved decorative elements. The first table combines flowerheads redolent of William Kent’s Palladian oeuvre with a Chinoiserie fretted frieze evocative of Thomas Chippendale’s designs, particularly Plate LXXIII of The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s Director.   Plate LXXIII of Thomas Chippendale’s Gentlemen and Cabinetmaker’s Director, depicting a table with canted corners and similar Chinoiserie fretted frieze.   The second table is of the same size and outline, and has exactly the same cube parquetry top. However, within this framework it departs from the eclectic detailing of the first table, being a pure rendering of the early flowering of the Neoclassical style in England. The legs and frieze are entirely fluted, with each leg being headed by a finely carved oval patera. The two opposing styles within an identical framework can be seen as a testament to Henry Hill’s abilities as a most versatile and accomplished cabinetmaker. Detail of the top   Hill’s career was not limited to that of cabinetmaker, however. Active between 1740 until the time of his death in 1778, he was also a coach maker, auctioneer, estate agent, and representative for the Sun Insurance Company.2 Most of his clients were landed Wiltshire families, though he was also commissioned by non-local patrons such as Sir John Delaval, who ordered a number of pieces from Hill in 1775-6 for his London home. Carlton Hobbs LLC  

These imposing chairs bear the signature of Henri Jacob (1753-1824), first cousin of the celebrated menuisier, George Jacob. Henri was reçu maître in 1779 and received his most notable commission in 1782 for Pavlovsk Palace near St. Petersburg from the Comte and Comtesse du Nord, the assumed names of the future Emperor Paul I of Russia and his wife Maria Fedorovna. In 1785 he was again called upon by the Russian court to deliver mahogany chairs, creating innovative designs in wood like those of his cousin George Jacob.

There exists in the British Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace a further set of very closely-related chairs, which have have the same striking scrolling arms above legs carved with the head of a horned lion and terminating in lion’s-paw feet (figure 1).   Figure 1 The Royal Collection chairs had previously been attributed to Morel and Seddon. However, the recently discovered Jacob signature on the present chairs would seem to confirm that both groups are an interesting example of French manufactured items, strongly influenced by English design (and there are other examples where the reverse is true).

Indeed a strong English precedent exists for the design for the stylized leonine head of the monopodiae to the chairs. Plate Plate XXIV, No. 6 in Thomas Hope’s  Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807) illustrates a pylonic pedestal whose carved lion supports display very similar angularly conceived “manes” from which also issue distinctive knurled horns (figure 2). Figure 2 Household Furniture recorded the interior of Hope’s house in Duchess Street, London, where the taste of the owner, derived from a close study of the ancient world, found unhindered expression. The book’s representation of Hope’s taste proved to be one of the most significant influences on English furniture design in the early years of the nineteenth century.

This pair of Italian armchairs (originally form a set of 4), circa 1800, was once owned by illustrator and doll maker, Rose O’Neil (1874-1844). Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, O’Neil was a talented artist, becoming the first female cartoonist, most famous for creating Kewpies, cherubic figures first depicted in The Ladies Home Journal, but which grew beyond illustrations to be used for dolls, figurines, coloring books, and tableware.

With her growing fortune, Rose traveled and worked throughout the US and Europe. She frequently visited Paris, though she did not own a home there.  “Her mentor, French sculptor Auguste Rodin, had encouraged Rose to show the world her private drawings, a series entitled ‘Sweet Monsters.’ In 1921 Rose had an entire exhibition of the monster drawings at the Galerie Devambez in Paris. The following year the exhibition was shown again to an American audience at the Wildenstein Gallery in New York. Both shows met with rave reviews.” Three photographs, sent to us courtesy of the Bonniebrook Historical Society, depict the chairs in situ with Rose and guests. Rose loved antiques and was known to purchase furniture for both her home in Capri, Italy, the Villa Narcissus, and also for her estate in Connecticut, Carabas Castle.  Many items of furniture from the Villa were later transferred to her Carabas home.  When that home was sold, many items of furniture were moved to Bonniebrook, the O’Neill’s 14-room mansion in Missouri. By the 1940’s, however, Rose had lost most of her money due to the Great Depression, her extravagant nature, and from fully supporting family and friends for decades. The chairs in Canabas Castle. These chairs were purchased in Paris for one of Rose’s grand homes. Upon her permenant return to the US, she sold two of the chairs to Bertha Rockwell (an artist and aunt of the most recent owner), which were then were left to Bertha’s sister, noted architect Mary Rockwell Hook. When Rose died in 1944, the other two chairs she had kept were either left to, or acquired by, Mary Rockwell Hook to reassemble the set of four. Upon the death of Mary Rockwell Hook they were bequeathed to her neice, Jean Blackman. The chairs at Bonniebrook. The location of this last photo below was previously identified as being taken at Villa Narcissus, but as the furnishings moved from house to house, one cannot be sure.

It is purported that the set of chairs was purchased by Napoleon to be given as a birthday present to one of his sisters, who were each set up as  nobles in Italy:  Elisa became grand duchess of Tuscany, Pauline was made princess of Guastalla, and Caroline was queen of Naples. This provenance is remains unconfirmed.

The present clock possibly combines the decorative talents of gifted 18th century artisans, namely Josiah Wedgwood and Matthew Boulton. Collaboration of this type occurred often; jasperware was mounted with cut-steel to make toys (the 18th century term for small, personal items) and furniture and decorative objects were mounted with jasperware. The neoclassic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries bore patrons of the arts with a taste dictated by antiquity, and the mounts of the clock, its shape and finial, uphold this neoclassical ideal.

Though Wedgwood produced large medallions, he set upon the market with smaller and more ornamental jasperware. His cameos and buttons, as they were called, were supplied for mounting to firms in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Woodstock, the chief centers of cut-steel production. One Birmingham manufacturer of steel toys was the industrialist Matthew Boulton. Boulton was both friend and business rival of Josiah Wedgwood and he framed Wedgwood cameos in steel for sword-hilts, buckles, and jewelry at his Soho factory. Dr. Anthony North, former Assistant Curator for the Metalwork, Silver and Jewellery Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has said of the present clock that “the mounts are clearly Wedgwood and Boulton – compelling factor in attributing the actual clock to Soho is the Neoclassical form and the curious steel feet, which are obviously Soho work.” In the late 1700s, Wedgwood’s pottery was adapted for the purpose of creating interesting furnishings; he produced a number of urns and vases with clock faces, as the fashion at the time was for fancy clocks of all forms, and “Wedgwood jasper decorations were used on some clocks in other media during the late eighteenth century.” Benjamin Vullimay, a Swiss watch and clock maker working in Britain, fitted several of his clocks with Wedgwood cameos. Vuillamy’s clocks did not utilize the same cut-steel frames, but could nevertheless employ up to a dozen craftsmen with different areas of specialization. It is interesting to note that one clock, while it lacks a Wedgwood plaque, maintains a similarly austere shape and is topped with a related urn finial (Figure 1). It is probable that the maker of the present clock moved in the same production circles as Wedgwood, Boulton, and Vulliamy. Figure 1 Another related clock belongs to the Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery Joseph Collection (Figure 2). This table clock is decorated with cut-steel and blue Wedgwood medallions. The reliefs of the jasper medallions on the front of the Nottingham clock are also“ classical in subject and the medallions on the side are of the same design as those at the bottom front corner of the [present] clock.” Similarities also extend to a strongly comparable clock face, urn-form finals and a plinth base resting on four cut-steel feet. Figure 2

John Hogan (1800-1858) was one of Ireland’s greatest sculptors. He was born the son of a carpenter at Tallow, Co. Waterford, and by 1816 was apprenticed to Thomas Deane, a builder and architect for whom he worked as a carpenter and woodcarver. In 1823, he attracted the attention of the Irish engraver W.P. Carey, who recognized his talent and helped him  to study in Rome. Portrait of John Hogan. Cork City Libraries.

Hogan set out for Italy and soon made a name for himself, remaining there except for a number of return visits to Ireland, until 1848.  Famed neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen is supposed to have said, “My son you are the best sculptor I leave after me in Rome.”  In 1840, Hogan was elected a member of the society of “Virtuosi al Pantheon”, the first British subject to be so honored since its foundation in 1500. Hogan died in Dublin on 27 March 1858, ten years after he finally left Italy.  Whilst in Rome he had sent much of his work home and subsequently today most of his sculpture is in Ireland. Hogan frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, as well as at the National Exhibition of 1852 in Cork and the Paris International exhibition.  He was quick to take up the neoclassicism of Canova and Thorwaldsen when he arrived in Rome, and his seemingly effortless talent produced a body of work which was much admired, from his religious and funerary monuments to his large scale commissioned work and intimate portraits. Marble portrait bust of James Murphy by Hogan.

The present bust depicts James Murphy (1768-1855) of Ringmahon Castle, Blackrock, Co. Cork. James was a magistrate and a brewer who, along with his brothers, founded James Murphy and Company, Distillers in 1825. The Murphy family was also known for having several of its members in the clergy, including James’ brother, Bishop Murphy, who Hogan had also portrayed. The curly hair is heavily drilled and his eyelids sharply incised; this together with the strong modeling of the face produce a keenly observed and exquisitely sculpted portrait. The relief on the base (left) shows Mercury flying with cadacus and trumpet; the relief (right) shows Hibernia seated on a bale with cornucopia and a barrel.  Both reliefs are emblematic of commerce. Signed and dated on the reverse Hogan Fecit 1834.

The design on which these remarkable mirrors are based was officially registered by the cabinet maker George Sims of 50-152 Aldersgate Street, London, in March 1878 and survives in the National Archives at Kew. Standing at just over 7 feet tall, the mirrors follow the design very closely, although they are given a stricter architectural quality by the decision to leave out the ornamental crest and swag on the drawing.

Although clearly closely inspired by Robert Adam’s work, Sims has lent these pieces an inventive edge by subtly departing from the conventions of Adam’s oeuvre. For instance, the hemispherical fans are curiously but successfully inverted and placed at the base of the mirror. Other motifs within the array of finely detailed neoclassical decoration are on close scrutiny more stylised and angular versions of their eighteenth-century counterparts.

Furthermore, Sims’ handling of the geometry and proportions of the mirror is exemplary and is redolent of the more radical designers of the early years of the nineteenth century, all the more remarkable given the date of conception of the present pieces. The exceptional quality and scale of the mirrors suggests that they were clearly a special commission of the highest order. The diamond mark [patent registration label] on the present pair of mirrors, pictured to the right, gives the date 25 March, 1878 Top. You can find a detailed explanation of these diamond marks here: The Registered Diamond Mark.

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The design on which these remarkable mirrors are based was officially registered by the cabinet maker George Sims of 50-152 Aldersgate Street, London, in March 1878 and survives in the National Archives at Kew. Standing at just over 7 feet tall, the mirrors follow the design very closely, although they are given a stricter architectural quality by the decision to leave out the ornamental crest and swag on the drawing.

Although clearly closely inspired by Robert Adam’s work, Sims has lent these pieces an inventive edge by subtly departing from the conventions of Adam’s oeuvre. For instance, the hemispherical fans are curiously but successfully inverted and placed at the base of the mirror. Other motifs within the array of finely detailed neoclassical decoration are on close scrutiny more stylised and angular versions of their eighteenth-century counterparts. Furthermore Sims’ handling of the geometry and proportions of the mirror is exemplary and is redolent of the more radical designers of the early years of the nineteenth century, all the more remarkable given the date of conception of the present pieces. The exceptional quality and scale of the mirrors suggests that they were clearly a special commission of the highest order.

The diamond mark [patent registration label] on the present pair of mirrors, pictured above, gives the date 25 March, 1878 [top, bottom, and righthand corners of the diamond, respectively]. You can find a detailed explanation of these diamond marks here: The Registered Diamond Mark.

One of a pair of George III two-tiered jardinieres.

In the collection of Carlton Hobbs.

As seen in the Carlton Hobbs Blog article: "How does your jardin grow?" http://www.carltonhobbs.net/furniture/how-does-your-jardin-grow/...

"Tops are often amont the finest artistic expressions of the period from which they date—whether pietre dure in the Renaissance, micromosaic in the Neoclassical period or rare marble slabs in the Baroque," says antiques dealer Carlton Hobbs. From May 13 through 22, Hobbs's Manhattan gallery is hosting a show of 25 tabletops featuring examples from each of those eras. Prices range from $84,000 to $1.65 million. The latter tag is attached to the Woodhall Park table, which has an Italian Renaissance pietre dure surface that bears striking similarities to the prized Farnese Table in New York's Metropolitan Museum. The piece mounts a side table attributed to the English designer Thomas Leverton (1743-1824).

Born July 3, 1728, Scottish architect, decorator and furniture designer Robert Adam was one of the most influential craftsmen of the 18th century, and so it is to him we dedicate today’s blog on what would be his 281st birthday!

Our recent acquisition of a set of chairs after a model by an Italian female carver, has piqued our interest in the activity of 18th century female artisans in the male-dominated field of furniture making. This particular intagliatore, or carver, was named Lucia Landucci and her set of ten giltwood neoclassical klismos chairs was just one of several important commissions that she executed for the Villa Borghese, Rome (see our blog of June 11, 2009).

Copenhagen. Circa 1770. Of carved deal retaining their original gilding and bevelled mirror plates. Each rectangular frame with ribbon and reed carved decoration with inner twist mouldings enclosing shaped bevelled divided mirror plates. The elaborately carved crest surmounted by a stylised vase resting on a stepped podium from which issue heavy floral swags tied by a ribbon. The apron with floral festoons fixed to the sides with plain turned bosses.

German or Viennese. Circa 1790. Of mahogany with gilt-brass mounts. The projecting rectangular top above a continuous frieze fitted with two short drawers to the front, each drawer centred by a pierced key escutcheon and flanked by fluted pilasters, the two long drawers carved in relief with shaped panels, each drawer centred by a conforming escutcheon flanked by two drop handles, each handle surmounted with paired eagles heads, the sides carved in relief with geometric motifs, each centred by a lion's mask with a ring handle, the panelled back similarly veneered. The whole raised on four sabre legs.

Berlin. Circa 1830. The present botanical table is much in the manner of the work of the celebrated designer and architect Karl Friederich Schinkel (1781-1841). The formal restraint of the table, free from extraneous decoration and marked by the smooth elegance of its form and the quality of its detailing, is characteristic of Schinkel’s neo-classical furniture designs. The table is closely related to an engraving of an antique marble urn from Tivoli published in Vorbilder für Fabrikanten und Handwerker, for which Schinkel provided the plates from 1821. The Botanical table could be used to grow and display plants by means of removable trays which fit ingeniously into the curving sides of the table’s top or can be stored away in the base. Schinkel was profoundly engaged with relating his architecture to nature and the surrounding landscape, and the present table can be seen in the context of the garden rooms he incorporated into his buildings to achieve this conjunction.

The neoclassical style and architectural imagery of these later 18th-century marquetry commodes identify them as pieces designed and created by the artisans of the famous botteghe in Rolo, Italy, which by that time was known as the center for high-quality marquetry furniture. The Rolese workshops had been producing fine intarsia work since the 1400s, in the illusionistic style established by the brothers Cristoforo (1448-1491) and Lorenzo (1425-1477) Canozi da Lendinara. In the 18th-century, the entire region of Emilia-Romana had become a hub of neoclassicism, inspired by the arrival in 1753 of Ennemond-Alexandre Petitot to serve as court architect to the Duke of Parma. Under Petitot's influence, the artisans of Rolo began producing furniture that was neoclassical in form, but still decorated with Renaissance imagery inspired by the Lendinara brothers' work. The present commodes, with their rectilinear form and perspectival architectural decoration, are an example of this.

English. Last Quarter Of The Eighteenth Century. The present pair of candelabra, although almost certainly English, due to their lightness of modeling, gilding technique, and typically English vase-shaped brass candleholders, are based on a French prototype that was introduced in the late 18th century. It is likely that the pair, which are most unusually carved in fine detail from wood, were produced as special commissions, or as maquettes for the plaster sculpture industry that flourished in Britain from the mid-18th through the mid-19th century. The plaster sculpture movement never spread to the Continent, although a very influential set of French statuettes were first produced in plaster for a party at the home of Madame du Berry in 1771. These four figures of Abundance held cornucopias from which issued candlelight.

Probably Milan. Circa 1770. Based on the evidence of a number of published pieces, it seems likely that this pair of blue-painted and gilt mirrors is of Milanese origin and date from the last quarter of the 18th century. The mirrors illustrate the shift toward neoclassicism in late 18th century decor in their rectilinear, almost architectural, form. Rococo frivolity is counteracted by straight lines, restrained carving, and a symmetrical scrolling acanthus motif in line with contemporary reflection on classical antiquity. The blue and gilt coloring of the mirrors can be found on Milanese examples of the period, and similar patterns are found in the interior decoration of princely residences of the Lombardy region, including a Milanese mirror, circa 1780, in the Palazzo Reale, and the wall and door paintings of the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, circa 1779-80.

Probably Milan. Circa 1770. Based on the evidence of a number of published pieces, it seems likely that this pair of blue-painted and gilt mirrors is of Milanese origin and date from the last quarter of the 18th century. The mirrors illustrate the shift toward neoclassicism in late 18th century decor in their rectilinear, almost architectural, form. Rococo frivolity is counteracted by straight lines, restrained carving, and a symmetrical scrolling acanthus motif in line with contemporary reflection on classical antiquity. The blue and gilt coloring of the mirrors can be found on Milanese examples of the period, and similar patterns are found in the interior decoration of princely residences of the Lombardy region, including a Milanese mirror, circa 1780, in the Palazzo Reale, and the wall and door paintings of the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, circa 1779-80.

The Table English. Circa 1785. The Top Probably Rome. Circa 1600. This magnificent 16th-century Roman pietre dure top stands on an important neoclassical giltwood base, almost certain to have been made to a design by Thomas Leverton for the Drawing Room at Woodhall Park, the splendid mansion built in the 1780s for Sir Thomas Rumbold. The tabletop can be compared to a select group of similar pietre dure pieces that date from 1550 to 1620, which includes the Farnese Table, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the famed Richelieu table in the Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre, an octagonal table in the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome, and a rectangular top from Fonthill Abbey. The present top shares a number of defining features with the aforementioned pieces that would suggest Roman manufacture during the second half of the 16th century. The technical virtuosity of the craftsmanship and the complexity of the design are enhanced by the great variety of stones employed.