Stand
Elizabeth Ratcliffe (Chester c.1735 - Liverpool c.1810)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1770
Materials
Wood, probably beech, paint, mother-of-pearl
Measurements
91 cm (Height)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Erddig, Wrexham
NT 1147093
Summary
A carved and painted mother-of--pearl encrusted stand, circa 1770, attributed to Elizabeth Ratcliffe (Chester circa 1735 - Liverpool circa 1810), lady's maid to Dorothy Yorke (d. 1787), who made other works of art from mother-of-pearl, such as NT 1149007, a bird, NT 1147091, a pagoda, and NT 1147092, a famous model of the Temple of the Sun at Palmyra. This a stand - lacking whatever it was designed to support - with a fluted broadening stem on a base of three downswept supports formed from 'C' scrolls. -- This was probably once the base for a tray, forming a candlestand. In a letter of 26 April 1787, Elizabeth Ratcliffe wrote to Philip Yorke from London that 'the stand for the Pagoda and candle-stands will all pack in one case...if you chuse to have them sent...'
Provenance
Given by Philip Yorke III (1905-1978) along with the estate, house and contents to the National Trust in 1973.
Makers and roles
Elizabeth Ratcliffe (Chester c.1735 - Liverpool c.1810), maker