Bonhams 1793 : A pair of George II style carved giltwood console tables in the manner of William Kent

A pair of 19th century carved giltwood console tables in the George II style

21 Nov 2012 14:00 GMT London, New Bond Street
Fine English Furniture
Back to auction 20027

A pair of George II style carved giltwood console tables

in the manner of William Kent
The later rectangular verde antico marble tops with rosso marble mouldings above oak leaf and acorn riband tied and wreathed friezes and central spread eagle supports, on rockwork and oak branches, with acanthus, swagged oak leaves and acorns and scrolling leaf and fruit pierced sides, on rectangular bowfront ebonised bases with egg and dart gilt mouldings, both branded 'E.H.C' on the inside back rail and with oval labels inscribed in blue ink numbered '26520', parts possibly incorporating 18th century elements, with 19th century adaptations, each 128cm wide, 61cm deep, 96cm high, (50" wide, 24" deep, 38.5" deep).

Sold for £49,250 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance: The Earl of Kinnoull, Balhousie Castle, Perthshire (according to the sale catalogue of 1949).
Anonymous sale; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 10-12 March 1949, lots 627 and 628.
Christie's, New York, 20 October 2004, lot 440, sold together with their original late 18th century Italian micro mosaic tops for which the bases were made.

Literature:
Illustrated (with their original marble tops) in F.Lewis Hinckley, Queen Anne and Georgian Looking Glasses, London 1990, p.116, pl.90.

Elements of Balhousie Castle date back to the 12th century and incorporate a 16th century tower house which the Kinnoulls had owned since 1631. The Castle had become delapidated by the mid 19th century and was rebuilt in its present form in 1860 and let out. The Kinnoulls lived primarily at Dupplin (built 1828-1832) until 1912 when part of the contents were auctioned off. The family then moved to Balhousie and remained there until 1926. It is likely that the tables, due to their grand scale, would have been out of character with the more cosy and itimate interiors of Balhousie and would therefore have almost certainly formed part of the contents of Dupplin. When the family left Balhousie the contents were put into storage. In 1962, the castle became the regimental headquarters and museum of the Black Watch

A similar pair of tables were sold Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, 24-26 October 1946, lot 402. These were subsequently sold from the collection of Lord and Lady White of Hull, Christie's New York, 30 April 1997, lot 228. Other related eagle console tables include a table from the collection of Claude D. Rotch which was illustrated in R.W Symonds article English Eagle and Dolphin Console Tables, The Magazine Antiques, Vol. XVIII, October 1930, p.296 and was described as being of the 'highest quality'. The Rotch table was subsequently in the collection of Sir Harry Hague and then sold Christie's, London, 18 November 1993, lot 157.

Design
The earliest known design for an eagle console is that which appears on the printed bill of the leading Edinburgh cabinet-maker Francis Brodie (d.1782) and dated 1739 and reproduced in F.Bamford, A Dictionary of Edinburgh Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1983, pl.24A and a related table described as 'a marble table, supported by an eagle and burnished in gold' was supplied by Brodie to Lord Adam Gordon, subsequently the Duke of Gordon, at Holyrood House in 1739 also illustrated in F.Bamford, ibid., pl.24B. Three eagle consoles attributed to Brodie were commissioned by Captain John Tennant for Innes House, Morayshire. The use of additional pierced scrolling ends to support the top appear on a group of tables with seated foxes supporting the tops. This group has been attributed to the architect Henry Flitcroft (1697-1759) and include a pair at Stourhead in Wilthsire (see G.Wills, English Furniture, London 1954, fig 169) and a further pair at Firle Place in Sussex. A pair of large specimen marble tops on eagle bases using dolphin supports to either end of each table, were supplied to John Preston M.P (d.1753) for the hall at Bellinter House, Navan, County Meath, circa 1740 and were sold Christie's, 17 April 1997, lot 50.