Sofa
William Linnell (1703-1763)
Category
Furniture
Date
1753
Materials
Mahogany, paint, textile, beech frame and brass mounts and castors
Measurements
98 x 323.8 x 80.8 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 731557
Summary
A large later painted and parcel gilt mahogany and upholstered sofa, by William Linnell (1703-1763) London, circa 1753. Commissioned by Sir Richard Hoare (b. 7 March 1734/35, d. 11 October 1787) for the Drawing Room at Barn Elms, Surrey. The sofa arranged in sections, the centre section having a waved top rail and divided from the ends by down swept acanthus carved moulded arms. The end sections rounded and the whole raised on six front scale carved square section moulded legs joined by fretwork carved pierced stretchers, conforming rear legs. The painted decoration has been added at a later date, probably in the first half of the 19th century. The upholstery is later but the gilt brass guilloche edging is original to the sofa.
Full description
The sofa was almost definitely the one supplied to Barn Elms by Linnell. Sir Richard Hoare's bank account records show a payment of £150 to William Linnell in May 1754 for 'furnishing Barn Elms Drawing Room'. William Linnell's bills to Hoare indicates what he provided for this drawing room, amoungst which, for the Autumn of 1753 he had delivered a fine set of ten carved mahogany French elbow chairs and a large sofa en suite upholstered in damask with gilt brass borders of gulloche design and fitted with red check covers. Linnell's invoice dated 18th September 1753: 'To mahogany French elbow chairs, carved neat, stuffed and covered with your own damask, welted and quilted, and castors to Do, a brass goloss in gold lacker all finest in a very neat manner - £42.0.0...and a large sofa to match - £12.0.0' The nine remaining chairs and the sofa are now at Stourhead and were inherited by Richard Colt Hoare (1758 – 1838) on Sir Richard Hoare’s death. The Linnell firm of William and son John was one of the most prominent firms of cabinet-makers of the second half of the 18th century, with commissions for a number of important country houses including amongst others the Dukes of Beaufort for Badminton House, Sir Robert Child for Osterley Park, the Dukes of Northumberland at Syon Park and Alnwick Castle, Shardeloes, the Marquess of Lansdowne at Bowood House and Lansdowne House and the Dukes of Argyll at Inverary Castle. William Linnell was apprenticed as a joiner in 1717 and was admitted to the freedom of the Joiners Company on 3 June 1729. Linnell began his career as a carver but by the 1760s he had developed the business sufficiently to cover all areas of cabinet-making. For further discussion and research on the relationship between the Hoare family and the Linnell workshops see: Kirkman, Pat & Hayward, Helena ‘William and John Linnell, Eighteenth Century London Furniture Makers’ Studio Vista Christies, London 1980 pl.39 & 228 pp.21,78 & 144 Kirkman, Pat ‘The careers of William and John Linnell’ Furniture History Society Vol.3 1967 pp. 29-44. British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (BIFMO) https://bifmo.data.history.ac.uk James Weedon (February 2018)
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir Richard Hoare (1734-1787) for the drawing room at Barn Elms, Surrey in 1753 from William Linnell (1703-1763). Thence by descent to Henry Hoare and then Richard Colt Hoare (1758 – 1838) when they were moved to Stourhead. Given to the National Trust along with Stourhead House, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Makers and roles
William Linnell (1703-1763), furniture maker
References
Hayward and Kirkham, 1980: Helena Hayward and Pat Kirkham. William and John Linnell, eighteenth century London furniture makers. London: Studio Vista in association with Christie’s, 1980., pl.39 & 228 pp.21,78 & 144 Kirkman, Pat 'The careers of William and John Linnell' FHS Dictionary of British and Irish furniture makers online (1660-1840) FHS 2017