Table top
manner of Baldassare Artima (fl. c.1670 - c.1686)
Category
Furniture
Date
1708 (the table top; the stand circa 1730)
Materials
Scagliola, the later stand of mahogany
Measurements
70 x 96 x 57 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Sizergh Castle, Cumbria
NT 998135
Summary
A rare scagliola table top, English, dated 1708, on a later stand, circa 1730, of mahogany. This extremely rare table top shows the arms of Strickland, Sable three escalopes, Argent, impaling Trentham, Three griffins' heads erased, Sable, above a banner or riband reading 'ANNO DOMINI 1708', and between a pair of 'W's, perhaps for Winifred Trentham, stars and four sprays of naturalistic flowers, each with a perching bird, all within white lines. The later mahogany table of four cabriole legs with pointed pad feet. Painted in green and white against black, and with purple, blue and pink embellishments.
Full description
This table-top refers to Winifred Trentham, Lady Strickland (1645 - 1725) and Sir Thomas Strickland (1621 - 1694), and was made fourteen years after the latter's death, when Winifred was a widow. Thought to be made for Winifred Trentham, but she was in exile in France then, and had last been in England in 1699. Perhaps, therefore, commissioned by her son Walter Strickland to commemorate his parents' marriage; or perhaps the date is a later addition. Sir Thomas and Lady Winifred, in financial difficulties, sought the patronage of James, Duke of York, younger brother and heir of Charles II, and by 1673 the Catholic husband of the Italian princes, Mary of Modena. The Stricklands were connected to the Royal Household: Thomas' cousin Robert Strickland of Catterick, was appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the new Queen on James' accession to the throne in 1685. In June 1688, Lady Strickland was present at the birth of the Prince of Wales and was appointed the child's Under-Governess. Shortly afterwards, Sir Thomas was sworn of the Privy Council. The Stricklands proximity to James II and his Queen led them to join them in exile following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when James II was deposed and replaced by William and Mary. They remained Jacobite supporters, and lived in exile, until their deaths. Their son, Walter, however, returned to England to claim Sizergh and his inheritance in 1699. Lady Strickland returned to England in 1695 and remained for almost four and a half years, ensuring that her family's interests were safeguarded. Some of the Stuart relics and portraits at Sizergh today are thought to have been given to Winifred after Mary of Modena's death in 1718. Made in scagliola, 'a fine plaster of powdered selenite (a crystalline variety of gypsum), mixed with glue and coloured...It has been dubbed 'the art of moonstone' because a sliver or selenite rock held up to the light is reminiscent of the colour of the moon. Selenite plaster was either applied like paint to a wet gesso ground, fixed under heat and polished, or formed into coloured chips and laid as a mosaic. Scagliola enjoyed a resurgence in France and subsequently England in the late 17th century, and this table-top has been identified as a late example in the manner of the work of Baldassare Artima, a Roman scagliola artist, who worked in England in the reign of Charles II and to whom has been attributed the chimneypiece, hearth and window sill in the Queen's Closet at Ham House (NT 1139084). (Megan Wheeler, 2016 and with entry adaptations from Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale, 2013.)
Provenance
Made in 1708 (the stand later), perhaps for Winifred Trentham, Lady Strickland (1645 - 1723) widow of Sir Thomas Strickland (1621 - 1694). Thence by descent, and given by Henry Hornyold Strickland (1890 – 1975) with Sizergh Castle and its estates in 1950.
Marks and inscriptions
To banner/riband to table top beneath armorial: ANNO DOMINI 1708
Makers and roles
manner of Baldassare Artima (fl. c.1670 - c.1686), craftsman
References
Rowell 2013: Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House, 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale University Press, New Haven & London 2013, pp. 204 - 221