Stool
probably Carlo Randoni (1755-1831)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1820 - 1827
Materials
Pine, walnut, paint, gilding, cotton and silk
Measurements
48 x 46 x 46 cm
Place of origin
Genoa
Collection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 2900222.1
Summary
A stool, one of a pair, part of a set of eleven pieces of gilded, carved and painted pine and walnut seat furniture, probably designed by Carlo Randoni (1755-1831), for Palazzo Tursi, Genoa, circa 1820-7. The set also comprising seven standard chairs (NT 608168.1.1-1.7) and two open armchairs (NT 608168.2.1-.2). Covered in later cotton and silk needlework of a classical motif within a stylised laurel border and four axe head-shaped crescent motifs, its edges stitched with a repeating run of alternating lotus flowers and anthemia. The seat rails applied with gilded oval rosettes between sprays of laurel within a moulded gilt border. Raised on four turned and tapering legs each with a reeded capping and a collar of gilded leaves to the top and a collar of flutes above the gilt ball foot.
Full description
This stool is part of a set which is, in turn, one of four sets of chairs, armchairs and stools of this type at Attingham (NT 608150, 608157, 608166 and 608168). The four sets are all in the Italian neoclassical style and identical in form, and are only distinguished by the use of different motifs to decorate the toprails, seat rails and legs, and by their coverings which are various and not consistent within sets. Following recent research by National Trust furniture curators, this furniture is now attributed to the architect and designer Carlo Randoni (1755-1831), not only because his influence is indicated by the fact that there are other pieces of furniture at Attingham for which his designs survive (NT 608155, NT 608156 and NT 608166), but also because many of the pieces of seat furniture have been signed or marked by craftsmen who are known to have worked for Randoni during the refurbishment of Palazzo Tursi in Genoa in the 1820s. Palazzo Tursi, the residence of King Vittorio Emanuele I (1759-1824) and Queen Maria Teresa (1773-1832), was converted into a royal palace in 1819-21 and was modified again in 1824-27. An inventory of May 1822 listed ten sofas, twelve armchairs, 136 stools, eighteen 'x'-frame stools and thirty-eight chairs amongst the contents of the Palazzo. Maria Teresa (by then the Queen Dowager following Vittorio Emanuele's death in 1824) died in 1832 and, although no evidence of a sale, or a dispersal auction, has been found, it is believed that William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842), acquired this furniture when returning home to England via Genoa in 1833. Throughout his time in Italy as a diplomat, William Noel-Hill had lived in close proximity to the Sardinian court, initially in exile at Cagliari (1808-14) and then Turin (1814-24), and after his diplomatic move to Naples (1824-33) he retained a house in Genoa. In 1842, when an inventory was taken at Attingham on his death, the bulk of the furniture was in storage in the Old Dining Room, but was subsequently used to furnish the house. Most of it remains in situ, and it is said to form probably 'the largest collection of its kind in the British Isles'. This stool, and its pair, are assumed to have been part of this collection before leaving Attingham at an unknown date. Whilst in different ownership, and before being purchased by the National Trust when they appeared on the auction market in 2017, they acquired different covers, of needlework rather than silk. Another single stool from this set is in a private collection in Cheshire.
Provenance
Probably part of the set acquired by the 3rd Lord Berwick during his tenure as envoy and ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples and the two Sicilies (see NT 608168.1.1-608168.1.7 and NT 608168.2.1-608168.2.2); probably sold from Attingham, at an unknown date; purchased by the National Trust at auction at Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, on 24 May 2017, funded by gifts and bequests.
Marks and inscriptions
Seat rail: Laviosa no. 27
Makers and roles
probably Carlo Randoni (1755-1831), designer
References
Rowell & Burchard 2020: Christopher Rowell & Wolf Burchard, 'Italian Furniture at Attingham Park', Furniture History LVI (2020), 107-176, 149-50, 152-3, p. 173 fn. 179, 180 & 184, p. 174 fn. 194 Figure 48 Drury, 1984: Martin Drury. “Italian furniture in National Trust houses.” Furniture History, vol. XX, 1984., 38-44