The Nostell Priory Saloon Pier Glasses - circa 1775
Joseph Rose & Co. (fl. 1750 - 1799)
Category
Mirrors
Date
circa 1775
Materials
Plaster, silvered glass, oil gilt
Place of origin
Yorkshire
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959740
Summary
A pair of gilt plaster pier glasses, or pier mirrors, circa 1775, designed by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) and executed by Joseph Rose & Co. (fl. 1750 - 1799), closely related to the pair of scagliola and giltwood pier tables, above which they hang, NT 959739.1 & .2. The mirror plate in a fluted surround and with elaborate plasterwork cresting of a cameo medallion beneath a gadrooned urn and between addoresed sphinges and harebell tendrils. And with an apron of pendant husk swags, anthemion and masks. --
Full description
On 19th December 1770, John Austin - Adam's office clerk - sent to Nostell 'a sketch of Glass Frame [for the Saloon], the clear glass within the frame is to be 4ft wide and 7ft high, the top glass to line with the top of the windows', and is probably referring to Adam's coloured design for the pier glasses [NT Catalogue 17(25)]. In November 1770, John Austin had informed Benjamin Ware - Adam's Clerk of Works - that 'the Glass frames in the Saloon Mr Adam is of the opinion had better be of wood, but a frame must be made to fix in the Wall to receive the Glasses'. However, the decorative elements were eventually made in plaster by Joseph Rose and Co., at a cost of £15, 0s, 0d. The two very fine cresting medallions were executed by Joseph Rose Junior (1745 - 1799) and were billed for separately. His account (1766 - 1777) lists: - '47ft 4in of rich frame round Glass frames 5 in Girth - £3.11.0. - No 2 Pieces of Ornaments over the Glass Frames with Sphynx's resting and foliage ornament proceeding from do a Medallion 8 in by 6 1/2 enclosed within a Garland of husks Tyed with ribbons, and a Vase with husks & honey Sucles above ditto 4 feet 8 in long and 2 feet 6 high - £6.6.0.' - NB. the 2 Medalions were done by Mr Rose Junr & Sr Roland paid him for them But the mouldings rd them is to be charged. - 17ft Run of husks at bottom of Glass frames - 2.11.0. - No 2 honey sucles in Centre at bottom 4 pieces of ornament each side of ditto, Consisting of Womens heads & Drapery & other enrichments 15in by 4in each - £2.6.0' The total cost of Joseph Rose's plasterwork in the Saloon at Nostell Priory - including the decorations to the walls, ceilings and these pier glasses - was £328, 18s, 10d. On 21st July 1774, Thomas Chippendale wrote to Sir Rowland that he and Adam had agreed that the 'Glass & picture frames must be of oil gold'. However, it is possible that - like much else in the Saloon - the pier glasses were left unfinished when Sir Rowland died in 1785, as they were completely re-gilded during refurbishments made by Thomas Ward in the 1820s. In addition, the glasses themselves had not been delivered to Nostell in 1785, when they appeared in Chippendale and Haig's list of unfinished furniture. Ward's oil gilding of these 'full inriched glass frames' cost £25, 2s, 6d. At the same time, he also replaced one of the glasses with a new 'Silvered Plate of Glass for the Saloon 84 inches by 49 inches' in May 1823, at a cost of £67, 1s, 0d. These alterations might suggest that the pier glasses and frames were not finished in 1785. (Entry adapted by Megan Wheeler, March 2018)
Provenance
Designed circa 1770 by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) and executed by Joseph Rose & Co. (fl. 1750 - 1799) circa 1775. Probably not finished at the time of Sir Rowland Winn's (b. 1739) death in 1785. Thence by descent, and accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron Oswald (1916 - 1984), 1986.
Makers and roles
Joseph Rose & Co. (fl. 1750 - 1799), plasterer attributed to Robert Adam (Kirkcaldy 1728 - London 1792), designer