Strong box stand
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1725
Materials
Parcel-gilt mahogany
Measurements
65.5 x 75 x 53 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1127724.2
Summary
A parcel-gilt mahogany stand, English, circa 1725, the stand for a walnut-veneered and brass-mounted strong box, circa 1675 [NT 1127724.1]. The stand of mahogany and with open top, with parcel-gilt Greek Key frieze, flared acanthus apron and acanthus to the knees of the square-section cabriole legs, terminating in square feet. One of three strong boxes at Hardwick Hall, the box veneered in walnut, with fall-front and hinged cover enclosing an interior of a well, drawers and secret compartments, mounted to the exterior with elaborate brass straps and lockplates, and with corner mounts.
Provenance
Two strong boxes of this type at Hardwick Hall were provided with matching stands around 1725, and are presumed to be associated with commissions for cabinet furniture from William Kent for Chiswick House by William Cavendish (1672 - 1729), 2nd Duke of Devonshire. This box and stand bears a paper label reading 'Duke's Dressing Room'. By descent until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959.
Marks and inscriptions
To frieze rail: Duke's Dressing Room
References
Rowell, Christopher, 'Furniture at Hardwick Hall - II', in David Adshead and David Taylor, Hardwick Hall: A Great Old Castle of Romance (2016), 173