Display cabinet
Banting, France and Co.
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1830
Materials
Mahogany, glass, oak and deal construction
Measurements
280 x 96 x 62 cm
Place of origin
St James's Street
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 850198
Summary
A mahogany breakfront bookcase or display cabinet, by Banting France & Co. London circa 1830 The moulded broken swan neck pediment centered by a plinth above a dentil moulded cornice and a central pair of astragal glazed cupboard doors flanked by two further doors, the lower section with three frieze drawers above a similar arrangement of cupboard doors. Raised on a plinth base.
Full description
Banting and France & Co., 27 St.James' Street, London (1813-40) The furniture in the main entertaining rooms at Ickworth was almost exclusively supplied by the firm of Thomas Banting and William France. The invoices for this outstanding group of furnishings are in the Hervey papers (See Suffolk County Records office, Bury St. Edmunds: 941.81/17 and 941/81/11). Banting and France were Royal cabinetmakers and held Royal Warrants in the reigns of George III, George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria. The Hervey family of Ickworth also maintained property in London at 6 St James's Square, as well as Bristol House in Putney and a house at No.19 Sussex Square, Brighton to which Banting and France were to also supply furnishings. Most of the contents of the Brighton property was moved to Ickworth in 1936. Banting and France assisted with the organisation of the sale of furniture by auction at St James' Square in 1814, although the Hervey family kept and refurnished the property, moving the later contents to Ickworth in 1950. Ickworth and its contents passed to the National Trust in lieu of death duties in 1956 although the family leased back the East Wing and continued to live there until it was sold by the 7th Marquis of Bristol (1954-1999) who sold the lease to the National Trust in 1996. See: G Beard & C Gilbert, 'Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660–1840' 1986 – Furniture History Society Geoffrey Castle, 'The France Family of Upholsterers and Cabinet-Makers' – Furniture History Society Journal Vol XLI pp 25–43, Published 2005 Robert Huish, 'Memoirs of her Late Highness Charlotte Augusta, Princess of Wales – London: Thomas Kelly Geoffrey de Bellaigue & Pat Kirkham, 'George IV and the Furnishing of Windsor Castle' – Furniture History Society 8 (1972) Ralph Edwards & Margaret Jourdain, 'Georgian Cabinet Makers' 1944, 1946; revised 1951 (3rd edition 1955) (James Weedon 2017)
Provenance
Part of the Bristol Collection. Acquired by the National Trust in 1956 under the auspices of the National Land Fund, later the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The bookcase was built for Ickworth by Banting France & Co. circa 1829
Makers and roles
Banting, France and Co., furniture designer and maker
References
Beard and Gilbert, 1986: Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert (ed), Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pg37 Castle, Geoffrey - 'The France Family of Upholsterers and Cabinet-Makers' – Furniture History Society Journal Vol XLI Published 2005, pp 25–43, De Bellaigue, G. & Kirkham, P. - 'George IV and the Furnishing of Windsor Castle' – Furniture History Society 8 (1972)