Torchère
James Whittle (fl.1731 - 1759)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1758
Materials
Carved and gilded wood
Measurements
140 cm (Height)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 485411.2
Summary
A carved giltwood candle-stand or torchère, English, circa 1758, the hexagonal top on a pierced baluster-shaped stem carved with foliage, on a tripod with scroll feet. This pair of tall candle-stands is presumably the one listed in the King of Spain's Bedchamber where also stood the State bed (NT 483529). They were made for Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710-1763) and are attributed to the London firm of carvers and gilders of James Whittle (fl.1731-1759) and Thomas Whittle (died in 1755), then in partnership with Samuel Norman (fl.1746-1782). They must have been supplied at the same time as the State bed circa 1759-60. In the mid-1770s, the 3rd Earl of Egremont transformed the ground-floor State Bedroom into a library.
Provenance
Supplied to the 2nd Earl of Egremont for the ground floor State Bedroom as recorded in the 1764 inventory. Thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Makers and roles
James Whittle (fl.1731 - 1759), carver James Whittle (fl.1731 - 1759), gilder Samuel Norman (fl.1746-1782), carver Samuel Norman (fl.1746-1782), gilder
References
Jackson-Stops, 1977: Gervase Jackson-Stops. “The furniture at Petworth.” Apollo 105.183 (1977): pp.358-66. Jackson-Stops, 1977: Gervase Jackson-Stops. “The furniture at Petworth.” Apollo 105.183 (1977): pp.358-66.