Sofa
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1793
Materials
Limewood, beech, gesso, composition, water gilding, silk damask
Measurements
94 x 274 x 76 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 206596.5
Summary
A curved sofa, one of a set of fourteen pieces of giltwood seat furniture, English, circa 1793, with similarities to a set of seat furniture supplied to Shugborough in 1794 by Charles Smith & Co., of Lower Grosvenor St., London. Comprising two sofas, four curved sofas and eight open armchairs. All upholstered in pale blue or grey floral silk damask by Elsie Bambridge (1896 - 1976) in 1963. -- The curved sofa with an upholstered back panel within a fluted frame. The toprail with downswept ends. The rear uprights each topped by a block with composition floral paterae, and a turned finial. The reeded arms partially padded and filled with upholstery. The arm supports turned and stop-fluted and on fluted blocks either side of a padded and over-stuffed concave-fronted seat. The front rail carved with opposing runs of guilloche. Raised on four turned, tapering and fluted front legs, and outswept rear legs.
Full description
By an unknown maker, this set of seat furniture is presumed to have been designed for the Yellow Drawing Room at Wimpole upon its completion in 1793. The arc of the backs of the curved sofas precisely matches the curves of the apsidal transepts beneath the dome at the room's dramatic and beautifully-lit South end. Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke, commissioned Soane to alter Wimpole when he succeeded to his Earldom in May 1790. As early as June, Soane and an assistant, Guibert, were surveying the house. The Yellow Drawing Room which they created was originally hung with acid yellow silk panels with dark borders and a band patterened with arabesques. The room was designed as a formal entertaining space and picture gallery and so the backs of this set of seat furniture, designed to be placed against the walls, are undecorated. In 1835, this set was upholstered in 'yellow figured silk with lilac covers finished with silk Cyrup cord and lace and yellow figured cotton throwover covers'. This set of furniture bears a resemblance to a set supplied to Shugborough in 1794. Both sets are French in inspiration and share similarly shaped toprails, finials to the top of the rear uprights and similarly turned and fluted legs. The set at Shugborough comprised fourteen chairs and two sofas [NT 1270706], and cost £296, an amount which included 'shamey leather stockings' to protect its delicate legs. The set listed in the Inventory taken at Wimpole in 1835 as: - 4 large circular back sofas fitted to the sweep of Bow the frames gilt the seat backs and elbows stuffed and covered Yellow figured silk with lilac covers finished with silk Cyrup cord & lace & yellow figured cotton throwover covers - 8 large square chairs gilt frames stuffed seat back & Elbows covered in Yellow silk & finished to correspond with Sofas & Yellow Cotton throwover cases The two standard straight sofas are not listed in the Yellow Drawing Room in this inventory. (Megan Wheeler, 2017)
Provenance
Supplied c. 1793, listed in the Inventory taken in 1835, and in situ in 1927 when the room was photographed for Country Life. Re-covered in 1963. Presumably purchased with the house when George Bambridge (1892 - 1943) and Elsie Bambridge (1896 - 1976) bought Wimpole in 1938. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976 by Elsie Bambridge.
References
Hussey, 1927: Christopher Hussey. “Wimpole Hall II, Cambridgeshire: the seat of the Hon. Gerald Agar-Robartes.” Country Life 28 May 1927: pp.844-51., p. 845, Figure 2 Hussey, 1967: Christopher Hussey. “Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire - II” Country Life 7 December 1967, 1466 - 1471, p. 1469, Figure 7 Hussey, 1967: Christopher Hussey. “Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire.” Country Life 14 Dec. 1967: pp.1594-7., p. 1595, Figures 4 and 5