145
A George II Oak Cabinet in the manner of Batty Langeley, Circa 1740
1/6
Description
the interior right door bearing two labels with inked inscriptions From an old / house in / Maidstone and COMPARE / JOHN PENN'S / CUPBAARD [sic] / in PHILADELPHIA / LIBRARY 1738 / (Colonial Furniture / in America, / vol. I p. 179
height 82 1/4 in.; width 50 in.; depth 19 1/2 in.
209 cm; 127 cm; 49.5 cm
Provenance
With Anthony Ingrao, Inc., New York
Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 72
Catalogue note
This masterfully architectonic cabinet relates to a 1739 design for a 'Dorick Bookcase' by Batty Langley, published as plate CLIX in his 1740 The City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Design: or the art of drawing and working the ornamental parts of architecture [fig.1]. Twickenham-born Batty Langley (1696-1751) was a garden designer and architect who extensively studied both the Gothic and Palladian styles and whose influence was probably greatest through his published engravings rather than actual commissions.
His 1747 Gothic Architecture, improved by Rules and Proportions provided visual sources for the bourgeoning Gothic Revival and inspired building work at numerous houses including Hartland Abbey in Devon and Bramham Park in Yorkshire, and his The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury was widely consulted in the American colonies, with George Washington for example using plate 51 as the basis for the Venetian window in the dining room of his estate at Mount Vernon. The internal label of the offered lot refers to a similar American-constructed cupboard with broken pediment and fluted pilasters flanking the door that was presented by John Penn, the last British governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, to the Philadelphia Library in 1738, illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, New York 1926, Vol.I, p.179 fig.184.
This cabinet employs archetypal classical ornament such as the broken pediment with moulded cornices and hanging guttae above a triglyph frieze and fluted pilasters, all a reflection of the Palladian revival in architecture and design of the early George II period, spearheaded by the architect William Kent and his patron Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753). The cabinet's origin, indicated on the interior label as an old house in Maidstone, Kent, as well as its material - native oak rather than more expensive tropical mahogany - aptly illustrates the diffusion of Palladian taste well beyond aristocratic and elite connoisseurial circles, and it probably furnished the town residence of a local merchant or yeoman.
height 82 1/4 in.; width 50 in.; depth 19 1/2 in.
209 cm; 127 cm; 49.5 cm
Provenance
With Anthony Ingrao, Inc., New York
Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 72
Catalogue note
This masterfully architectonic cabinet relates to a 1739 design for a 'Dorick Bookcase' by Batty Langley, published as plate CLIX in his 1740 The City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Design: or the art of drawing and working the ornamental parts of architecture [fig.1]. Twickenham-born Batty Langley (1696-1751) was a garden designer and architect who extensively studied both the Gothic and Palladian styles and whose influence was probably greatest through his published engravings rather than actual commissions.
His 1747 Gothic Architecture, improved by Rules and Proportions provided visual sources for the bourgeoning Gothic Revival and inspired building work at numerous houses including Hartland Abbey in Devon and Bramham Park in Yorkshire, and his The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury was widely consulted in the American colonies, with George Washington for example using plate 51 as the basis for the Venetian window in the dining room of his estate at Mount Vernon. The internal label of the offered lot refers to a similar American-constructed cupboard with broken pediment and fluted pilasters flanking the door that was presented by John Penn, the last British governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, to the Philadelphia Library in 1738, illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, New York 1926, Vol.I, p.179 fig.184.
This cabinet employs archetypal classical ornament such as the broken pediment with moulded cornices and hanging guttae above a triglyph frieze and fluted pilasters, all a reflection of the Palladian revival in architecture and design of the early George II period, spearheaded by the architect William Kent and his patron Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753). The cabinet's origin, indicated on the interior label as an old house in Maidstone, Kent, as well as its material - native oak rather than more expensive tropical mahogany - aptly illustrates the diffusion of Palladian taste well beyond aristocratic and elite connoisseurial circles, and it probably furnished the town residence of a local merchant or yeoman.
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the interior right door bearing two labels with inked inscriptions From an old / house in / Maidstone and COMPARE / JOHN PENN'S / CUPBAARD [sic] / in PHILADELPHIA / LIBRARY 1738 / (Colonial Furniture / in America, / vol. I p. 179
height 82 1/4 in.; width 50 in.; depth 19 1/2 in.
209 cm; 127 cm; 49.5 cm
Provenance
With Anthony Ingrao, Inc., New York
Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 72
Catalogue note
This masterfully architectonic cabinet relates to a 1739 design for a 'Dorick Bookcase' by Batty Langley, published as plate CLIX in his 1740 The City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Design: or the art of drawing and working the ornamental parts of architecture [fig.1]. Twickenham-born Batty Langley (1696-1751) was a garden designer and architect who extensively studied both the Gothic and Palladian styles and whose influence was probably greatest through his published engravings rather than actual commissions.
His 1747 Gothic Architecture, improved by Rules and Proportions provided visual sources for the bourgeoning Gothic Revival and inspired building work at numerous houses including Hartland Abbey in Devon and Bramham Park in Yorkshire, and his The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury was widely consulted in the American colonies, with George Washington for example using plate 51 as the basis for the Venetian window in the dining room of his estate at Mount Vernon. The internal label of the offered lot refers to a similar American-constructed cupboard with broken pediment and fluted pilasters flanking the door that was presented by John Penn, the last British governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, to the Philadelphia Library in 1738, illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, New York 1926, Vol.I, p.179 fig.184.
This cabinet employs archetypal classical ornament such as the broken pediment with moulded cornices and hanging guttae above a triglyph frieze and fluted pilasters, all a reflection of the Palladian revival in architecture and design of the early George II period, spearheaded by the architect William Kent and his patron Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753). The cabinet's origin, indicated on the interior label as an old house in Maidstone, Kent, as well as its material - native oak rather than more expensive tropical mahogany - aptly illustrates the diffusion of Palladian taste well beyond aristocratic and elite connoisseurial circles, and it probably furnished the town residence of a local merchant or yeoman.
height 82 1/4 in.; width 50 in.; depth 19 1/2 in.
209 cm; 127 cm; 49.5 cm
Provenance
With Anthony Ingrao, Inc., New York
Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 72
Catalogue note
This masterfully architectonic cabinet relates to a 1739 design for a 'Dorick Bookcase' by Batty Langley, published as plate CLIX in his 1740 The City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Design: or the art of drawing and working the ornamental parts of architecture [fig.1]. Twickenham-born Batty Langley (1696-1751) was a garden designer and architect who extensively studied both the Gothic and Palladian styles and whose influence was probably greatest through his published engravings rather than actual commissions.
His 1747 Gothic Architecture, improved by Rules and Proportions provided visual sources for the bourgeoning Gothic Revival and inspired building work at numerous houses including Hartland Abbey in Devon and Bramham Park in Yorkshire, and his The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury was widely consulted in the American colonies, with George Washington for example using plate 51 as the basis for the Venetian window in the dining room of his estate at Mount Vernon. The internal label of the offered lot refers to a similar American-constructed cupboard with broken pediment and fluted pilasters flanking the door that was presented by John Penn, the last British governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, to the Philadelphia Library in 1738, illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, New York 1926, Vol.I, p.179 fig.184.
This cabinet employs archetypal classical ornament such as the broken pediment with moulded cornices and hanging guttae above a triglyph frieze and fluted pilasters, all a reflection of the Palladian revival in architecture and design of the early George II period, spearheaded by the architect William Kent and his patron Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753). The cabinet's origin, indicated on the interior label as an old house in Maidstone, Kent, as well as its material - native oak rather than more expensive tropical mahogany - aptly illustrates the diffusion of Palladian taste well beyond aristocratic and elite connoisseurial circles, and it probably furnished the town residence of a local merchant or yeoman.
The Pleasure of Objects: The Ian & Carolina Irving Collection
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New York
New York
10021
United States
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