Chair
probably Carlo Randoni (1755-1831)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1820 - 1827
Materials
Pine, walnut, paint, gilding and lampas [silk]
Measurements
91 x 52.3 x 49 cm
Place of origin
Genoa
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608150.1.4
Summary
A chair, one of a set of thirteen pieces of seat furniture, of gilded, carved and painted pine and walnut. The set comprising six of this type of chair, two open armchairs and five stools, probably designed by Carlo Randoni (1755-1831), Genoa, for Palazzo Tursi, Genoa, circa 1820-7. Topped by a scroll-over toprail carved with buds, flowers and leaves, above a padded and covered back panel between uprights topped by gilt 'capitals'. The seat in seat rails decorated with an attenuated navette-shaped lozenge framing a flowerhead within sprigs of leaves. Raised to the front on a pair of turned and tapering legs with an upper collar carved with flowerheads and fluting and a ring-turning to the feet, and on tapering rectangular-section outswept legs topped by fluted giltwood capitals and with hoof feet. Covered in late 18th century green (now faded) and white lampas silk, woven in Lyon, France.
Full description
This chair 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'. The stools, armchairs and chairs in this set are covered in three different fabrics. This chair is covered in late 18th century lampas silk woven in Lyon, France, which was probably in store at Attingham by 1842. There are six identical chairs and two stools in the Palazzine dei Mulini, Portaferraio, Napoleon's residence in exile on the island of Elba and now a museum.
Provenance
3rd Lord Berwick collection: William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842). Acquired by the 3rd Lord Berwick, who had been in Italy as British envoy and ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies. By descent bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Marks and inscriptions
Seat rail: Parodi Front seat rail: Z [within a rectangle] Rear seat rail: No.13 E.C.
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, pp. 146-7, 150, 152-3, 173 fn. 179, 182-4 Drury, 1984: Martin Drury. “Italian furniture in National Trust houses.” Furniture History, vol. XX, 1984., pp. 38-44