Strawberry Hill ID: sh-000157
1743
Walpole, Horace (English writer and connoisseur, 1717–1797)
,Designer
Kent, William (English architect, landscape gardener, painter, bap. 1686 - d. 1748)
Hallett, William I (British cabinetmaker, 1707-1781)
Furniture
Veneered with padouk on a pine carcase, and set with carved ivory plaques, figures and mounts
152.4 x 91.5 x 21.6 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Purchased with the assistance of the Murray Bequest. W.52:1, 2–1925
Strawberry Hill History
Location: Tribune [Cabinet]
1774 Description: A cabinet of rose-wood, designed by Mr. Walpole; on the pediment, statues in ivory of Fiamingo, Inigo Jones, and Palladio, by Verskovis, after the models of Rysbrach. In the pediment, Mr. Walpole’s arms, a cupid and lion, by the same: on the doors, bas-reliefs in ivory, Herodias with the head of the baptist, by Gibbons; a lady, half-length, by the same; Perseus and Andromeda; the Hercules Farnese; the Flora; Diomede with the Palladium; the Medusa of Strozzi; the Perseus of ditto; Caracalla and Alexander, by Pozzo; and eight other heads. On the drawer, the Barberini lion, by Pozzo; and heads of eagles, by Verskovis. (77-78)
1784 Description: Text same as 1774 Description (56)
Sale Text: A Splendid Cabinet of Rosewood, designed by Horace Walpole, of most chaste and elegant form, richly carved, ornamented with ivory, and a rare specimen of art. On the pediment are three statues in ivory of Palladio, Inigo Jones and Fiamingo, carved by Verskovis after the models of Rysbrack; in the pediment, the Walpole Arms are displayed supported by a Cupid and a Lion, with a relief of Flowers, Eagles' Heads with festoons of Flowers forming the base, all carved by Verskovis; the doors enriched with 18 splendid carvings in ivory, by Gibbons, Pozzo, and other celebrated artists, representing Herodius with the Head of John the Baptist and a Lady by Gibbons; Perseus and Andromeda, the Hercules Farnèse, Flora, Diomede with the Palladium, the Medusa and the Perseus of Strozzi, Caracalla and Alexandra, the Barberini Lion, and 8 splendid Heads, all by Pozzo. It is perfectly unique and as a work of art may be pronounced matchless.
Object History
Provenance: 1743, made for Horace Walpole; 1842, Strawberry Hill Sale, day 15, lot 66 bt [Richards for] Mr. Charles Redfern of Warwick, £126.0.0; Mr. Harry Quilter; Sir George Donaldson, Private Museum in Sussex; 1925, July 9, Donaldson Sale at Hove, Sussex, lot 482, bt Sutton; 1925, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Purchased with the assistance of the Murray Bequest .
Exhibition History: "The Century of Elegance in England." (Organized by the British Council) Musée des Arts Decoratifs. Paris, France. 2/26(?)/1959-5/18/1959.
"Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill," Yale Center for British Art, 15 October 2009 - 3 January 2010; Victoria and Albert Museum, 5 March 2010 - 4 July 2010, cat.no. 171.
Bibliography: William King and M. Longhurst, “A Relic of Horace Walpole," Burlington Magazine 48, 275 (Feb. 1926), 98, 102-103.
HW Corres 9:83, 18:.277, 34:.208n, 42:.111n, 262n
Ralph Edwards, "Cabinets Made for Horace Walpole and Thomas Brand," Burlington Magazine 74, 432 (March 1939), 128-129,131.
H.D. Molesworth and John Kenworthy-Browne, Three Centuries of Furniture in Color (New York: Viking Press, 1972), plate 189.
Clive Wainwright, The Romantic Interior. The British Collector at Home 1750-1850 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989), 74-76, fig. 58.
Malcolm Baker, ‘Small-scale Sculpture and it Reproductions in the Eighteenth Century’ in Anthony Hughes and Erich Ranfft (eds.), Sculpture and its reproductions (London : Reaktion Books, 1997) 61-78.
