The Library fireplace
Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792)
Category
Architecture / Features & Decoration
Date
circa 1764
Materials
White marble, Siena marble, steel
Measurements
1760 x 2480 x 345 mm
Place of origin
Great Britain
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 107923
Summary
White marble with Siena marble, steel, the Library fireplace, designed by Robert Adam (1728-92) with relief panel attributed to Joseph Wilton (1722-1803), c. 1764. A chimneypiece of Sienese marble with moulded white marble inverse breakfront shelf, dentils and triglyph frieze with metopes of Sienese marble and white marble relief bucrania and circular paterae. At centre is a white marble relief panel attributed to Joseph Wilton depicting a scene from 'The Fable of Cupid and Psyche' (engraving series published Rome, 1530-60) where Psyche is visited by her sisters (see NT 107923.1). The jambs are fluted white marble columns of the Doric order. The frame around the grate is carved of white marble with an egg and dart motif. Fitted with a steel basket grate with orbed finials, a pierced steel apron with arabesque pattern and a white marble hearth stone. The Library was completed in 1764 to designs by Robert Adam (see NT 109439).
Provenance
Purchased by Nathaniel Curzon (1726-1804) c. 1764 as part of Robert Adam's remodeling of Kedleston; purchased with part of the contents of Kedleston with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1987 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000).
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1987)
Makers and roles
Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792), architect attributed to Joseph Wilton (London 1722 - Wanstead 1803), sculptor Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792), designer
References
Harris 1987: Leslie Harris and Gervase Jackson-Stops (ed.), Robert Adam and Kedleston: The Making of a Neo-Classical Masterpiece, London 1987