AN EXCEPTIONAL PAIR OF GEORGE II GILTWOOD PEDESTALS
Circa 1735
REF1097
An Exceptional Pair of George II Giltwood Pedestals
Possibly by William Kent
Circa 1735
The square tops with carved moulding and tablet, applied with festoons of flowers tied with ribbons and lateral to the sides. The stems of scrolled volute form, boldly carved with acanthus leaves over a moulding carved with trailing husks and water leaves. Raised on plinth bases with flower and dart mouldings.
H: 54 in (137 cm) W: 13 in (33cm) D: 10 1⁄2 in (27 cm)
PROVENANCE
Samuel, 1st Baron Sandy’s (1695-1770); By Descent
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SHAREDESCRIPTION
These impressive architectural pedestals are closely related to the designs of the architect-designer William Kent (1685-1748). Their bold scrolling design is a signature feature of his known work. The pedestal brackets bear particularly strong comparison elements central to the design of the Stone Hall at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, which was completed by Kent between 1726 and 1735 for Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745), who as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, is regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Such brackets were central to Kent's interiors and 'when busts were placed upon them they accentuated the classicism of his designs'. Kent would undoubtedly have seen such architectural devices in the Roman palace interiors he visited during his extensive visits to Italy. A Kent design for a wall bracket for the display of a bust, circa 1730-1735, is in The Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.373-1986), and another similar design was featured in John Vardy’s Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. Wm. Kent (1744), plate 20. Kent designed twelve giltwood wall brackets for the Dome Room at Chiswick House, and probably another set of twelve for the Library at Chiswick (Weber, op. cit., p. 509, fig. 18.57). Carved, painted and parcel-gilt 'console wall brackets' were designed for Tottenham House, circa 1729-31, two of which are now in The Victoria & Albert Museum.
LITERATURE
Ombersley Court Inventory, c. 1770-1775, Ombersley MS, in 'The Salon Room'.
A. Oswald, 'Ombersley Court, Worcestershire - I', Country Life, 2 January 1953, p. 35, pl. 3. Ombersley Court Inventory, June 1963, annotated Ombersley MS, in 'The Saloon’.
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