The Nostell Priory Saloon Pier Tables, after a design by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) of 1775 - the tops 1777, the bases circa 1780
Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792)
Category
Furniture
Date
10 Jun 1775 (designed) - 1777 (the tops)
Materials
Limewood, softwood, gesso, gilding, marble, scagliola
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959739
Summary
A pair of giltwood and scagliola pier tables, related to a pair of pier mirrors, NT 959740.1 & .2, English, after a design by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) of 10th June 1775, the tops made by John Augustus Richter (c.1730 - after 1809) and Domineco Bartoli (fl.1761 - 1805) in 1777. The bases possibly made by Thomas Chippendale (1718 - 1779), Thomas Chippendale the Younger (1749 - 1822), circa 1775 - 1785, or Sefferin Nelson (1739 - 1797). Each having a demi-lune scagliola top with a fan surrounded by bands of Neo-Classical urns, a band of medallions pendant from a garland of harebells, and with an outer border of anthemion. The base with a frieze carved with anthemion within an arcade and centred by a roundel bearing the Winn crest, a demi-eagle displayed or, ducally gorged ermine, and two other oval medallions bearing classical busts, all issuing pendant garlands of husks or bellflowers, the legs of tapering square-section, topped by Corinthian capitals above a Classical oval medallion, the lower sections carved with ram's heads above pendant foliage, all joined by curved stretchers centred by a platform topped by a shallow urn being borne by a pair of putti.
Full description
The furnishing of the Saloon was part of the 'long drawn-out final phase' of work done at Nostell Priory, and our understanding of it is complicated by a lack of records for this period, and by the deaths of Thomas Chippendale in 1779 and Sir Rowland Winn in 1785. The decoration of the walls appears to have been complete by 1775, but 'Sir Rowland was in no hurry to furnish either interior'; in July 1781, Haig was exasperatedly asking if Lady Winn had yet chosen the silk to cover the seat furniture (Gilbert, 1978). However, new documents discovered in 1990 help to illuminate this phase of work. We now know that Thomas Chippendale was at Nostell measuring the Saloon in early 1774 and in June he wrote, 'I have sent...a small case contain'g a section of the Saloon with designs of the furniture which has been settled by Mr Adams and myself & he totally approves everything therein sketched'. Chippendale goes on to discuss the appropriate gilt finishes for a pair of pier tables (burnished gold) and pier glass frames (the latter executed in stucco), frames for the large mural paintings and a pair of candlestands. However, although the work was put in hand and mostly completed by 1778/9, Sir Rowland either lost interest in, or could not afford, furniture which cost £570. In June 1781, Haig & Chippendale wrote 'the undermentioned Furniture has been made upwards of two years and waiting for your Orders to finish them'. Under the heading 'Salloon' [sic] are listed '2 Pier Glasses with head plates' and '2 Rich compass inlaid table tops to his own frames'. The situation was unresolved in 1785 when Sir Rowland died, when the firm presented a bill for services provided. At the same time, the firm re-submitted 'To the Executrix of Sir Rowland Winn Bart' their schedule of furniture for the Saloon 'not finished but very forward' and noted '2 Peer Glasses with head plates' and '2 rich Compas Inlaid Table tops to your own frames'. It appears from this mention that Chippendale was supplying the glass for pier glass frames Adam had (or was) providing, and that the firm was still storing the scagliola table tops for table bases that were already at Nostell. It is unclear, therefore, who made the bases, but possible makers are Sefferin Nelson, who also made the window cornices [NT 959744] for the Saloon and the sideboard pedestals [NT 959774] in the Dining Room during this period, and Chippendale's firm. How and when the table tops were delivered to Nostell Priory is not clear from surviving documents. These tables, costing £157 10s, were the most expensive piece of furniture made for the house during Adam and Chippendale's involvement in its furnishing. (Entry adapted by Megan Wheeler, March 2018)
Provenance
Designed by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) in 1775; the tops by John Augustus Richter (c. 1730 - after 1809) and Domineco Bartoli (fl. 1761 - 1805) in 1777. Thence by descent until accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron Oswald (1916 - 1984) in 1986.
Makers and roles
Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792), designer workshop of John Augustus Richter (c.1730 - after 1809) and Domineco Bartoli (fl.1761 - 1805), sculptor Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792), architect
References
Gilbert (1978): Christopher Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale (1978), 2 volumes., Vol. I, pp. 173 and 193; Vol. II, p. 275, Figure 502 Gilbert, 1990: Christopher Gilbert. “New light on the furnishing of Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 26 (1990): 53 - 66, pp. 58 - 61 Boynton and Goodison, 1968: Lindsay Boynton, and Nicholas Goodison. “Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 4 (1968): pp.10-61., p. 38