LONG HIDDEN FAMILY COLLECTION FROM ONE OF THE MOST PERFECTLY PRESERVED GEORGIAN TOWNHOUSES IN LONDON HEADS TO AUCTION
JANUARY 2024. Dreweatts is delighted to have been appointed to sell a long-hidden family collection tucked away in one of the most historically preserved Georgian townhouses in London. Wimpole Street, in Marylebone was established at the end of the 18th century and is recognised today for its rows of stunning townhouses, many of which have been transformed into embassies, offices and private medical establishments over the years. This particular house was a rare survivor amongst them and features original Neoclassical interiors that have remained untouched by the changes and tastes of later periods. The house was the backdrop for an exceptional private collection that was amassed over several generations by a discerning family, with a deep interest and pride in England, as well as a knowledge and appreciation of quality and provenance. A preoccupation with outstanding eighteenth-century works and painstaking research on each, is evident throughout the collection. The house’s magnificent period rooms featured 18th century furniture and its walls were adorned with
 |
spectacular 18th century paintings.
Joe Robinson, Head of House Sales & Collections at Dreweatts, said: “It is a privilege to offer this previously unseen family collection from one of the most perfectly preserved Georgian townhouses in London. We are delighted to be able to showcase this carefully curated collection, with an emphasis on provenance and quality, alongside exceptional craftsmanship, with many works by leading artists and makers of their day.” The sale will take place at Dreweatts on January 31, 2024.
SUBLIME WORKS WITH SUBLIME PROVENANCE
Among the 18th century British portraiture in the collection are works by pre-eminent artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Scottish artist Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) and the English portrait painter, Sir John Hoppner (1758-1810). The collection also includes a selection of classic English furniture by some of the greatest makers, including Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779), Ince and Mayhew (a group of London cabinet makers and furniture designers spear-headed by William Ince (1737-1804) and John Mayhew (1736-1811) from 1759 to 1803), as well as pieces by the renowned English furniture-making company Gillows, based in Lancaster and London and led by the revered Robert Gillow (1704–1772).
Many of the works come with past histories from some of England’s greatest homes and esteemed families with outstanding collections, such as Badminton House, Clumber Park, Dyrham Park, Luscombe Park and even Windsor Castle. There are also pieces from more recent famed collections including the great American collector Henry Francis Du Pont (1880-1969), whose passion was early American furniture and decorative arts. His estate of Winterthur in Delaware, USA is now one of the world’s leading museums of American furniture and decorative arts.
HIGHLIGHTS
AN ICONIC CHIPPENDALE COMMISSION
One of the main highlights of the furniture section is a set of six George III giltwood side chairs by important cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779), which were commissioned by the MP Sir
 |
Penistone Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (1745-1828) for the grand saloon at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire in circa 1773. The room was decorated to receive Royalty and alongside the Chippendale furniture, walls were lined in silk and a ceiling painted by the English artist Francis Wheatley RA (1747-1801). The room was part of a larger restoration project of Brocket Hall at the time and a wider commission of furniture by Chippendale, with the seat furniture for the Drawing Room comprising twelve armchairs, twelve side chairs and four settees, which was the largest salon suite that Chippendale ever produced for any client. It took fifteen years to complete Brocket Hall’s transformation, by which time Sir Matthew had died and his son Peniston Lamb inherited the house at the age of 21. Sir Peniston was raised to the peerage, as 1st Viscount Melbourne in 1781 allegedly on account of his wife’s social and political capabilities as mistress of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. The set carries an estimate of £70,000-£100,000 (lot 121).
PRE-EMINANT PORTRAITURE
Heroic portraiture is represented in the collection by an unusually enigmatic portrait by Allan Ramsay of the distinguished British naval officer Admiral Boscawen (1711-1761), painted for the 5th Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803) for Badminton House. Boscawen was the third son of Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth (1680–1734) and entered the Royal Navy at the age of 12. He rapidly ascended through the ranks, demonstrating his strategic acumen in important engagements during the War of Jenkins’ Ear, the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. Beyond his military achievements, Boscawen held political roles, serving as a Member of Parliament and later as a Lord of the Admiralty. This portrait of Admiral Boscawen is the half-length autographed version painted by Allan Ramsay in 1758. The full-length version, which includes a French flag and maritime fortifications in the background, was recorded by Sir William Musgrave, 6th Baronet Musgrave of Hayton, as hanging at Badminton House in the collection of the Dukes of Beaufort. Musgrave noted that it had been painted by Ramsay ‘soon after the taking of Louisbourg, Aug.19. 1758.’ This half-length version was likewise described by the antiquary and proto-art historian in 1796. This portrait depicts him in his resplendent blue and gold uniform as a Rear Admiral of the Blue, a rank to which he was promoted after nearly annihilating the French fleet at Finisterre in 1747.
 |
Allan Ramsay, who is considered the greatest portrait painter in the history of Scotland, also played an instrumental role in establishing a national identity for British art. His precise and sensitive portraiture earned him widespread acclaim, aided by his prodigious intellectualism. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1743 and he possessed a social flair which ingratiated him with an elite pool of patrons. Amongst his friends and correspondents, he counted David Hume, Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Voltaire, and Rousseau. Dr Johnson reflected that there was no man ‘in whose conversation there is more instruction, more information, and more elegance, than in Ramsay’s’. His ascension to Principal Painter to the King in 1767 promoted him amongst a prestigious cohort which included Anthony van Dyck, Peter Lely, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence. The present portrait possesses all of the grace and naturalness of Ramsay’s work, employing many of the distinctive techniques he had developed over his career. The short feathery brushstrokes are concentrated in the lighter areas, juxtaposing the looser shadows. This has the effect of giving the sitter a luminous concreteness and depth, notably emphasised here in the artist’s trademark contrasting of the front of the wig in brilliant light and its ribbon in shadow behind. The work carries an estimate of £15,000-£25,000 (lot 122).
A reflective portrait by John Hoppner of the beautiful Louisa Countess of Mansfield (1758-1843), sometime chatelaine of Kenwood House and her second husband, Hon. Robert Fulke Greville (1751-1824). Greville was the third son of Francis, 1st Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth (née Hamilton), and brother to George, Lord Greville and Charles Francis Greville. Following a period in the army where he was commended, he became Equerry to George III between 1781 and 1797, when the king was first inflicted with mental illness, then known as madness. Greville recorded the King’s illness in his diaries and in his Journal of His Majesty’s Most Serious and Afflicting Illness (1788-1789), now held in the Royal Collection (RCIN 1052593 and 1047014). From 1800-1818, Greville was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber to the King and again from 1812 was a witness to the progression of George III’s illness at Windsor Castle. In parallel to his Royal duties, he was MP for Warwick (1774-80), supporting the Tory government of Lord North, and New Windsor (1796-1806). In 1794, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. On 19 October 1797, he married his first cousin, the Scottish noblewoman and widow,
 |
Louisa, Countess of Mansfield (1758-1843). She was the daughter of Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart and Jane Hamilton, the latter, granddaughter of the 3rd Duchess of Hamilton. Louisa’s first husband was David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield and she lived between Scone Palace, Perthshire and Paris, where her first husband was the British Ambassador to Louis XVI. Robert Greville and Louisa had three children together. This painting passed to their second daughter, Lady Louisa Greville (1800-83) who was married to The Rev. Daniel Heneage Finch-Hatton and thence by descent to their son, William. The pair is estimated to fetch £10,000-£15,000 each (lot 55 and 55A).
The sale also presents a magnificent portrait of Lady Catherine Standish (d.1780), by the esteemed artist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Born into the prominent Frank family of Pontefract, Yorkshire, Lady Standish’s mother, Elizabeth Lowther, was the daughter of Sir John Lowther Bt., M.P. for Westmoreland, while Catherine’s father, Robert Frank MP (1660-1738), was active in borough politics and appointed Recorder for the Corporation of Pontefract in 1686. He served as an M.P. for the borough between 1710 and 1716. Lady Standish married several times and it was her second marriage to Sir Thomas Standish of Duxbury, 2nd Baronet of Duxbury, that afforded her the title of Lady.
However it was her daughter (by her first marriage)’s connection to Joshua Reyolds that led to her portrait, as her daughter’s husband Robert Ramsden of Osberton (1708-1769), the fourth son of Sir William Ramsden, 2nd Bt. sat for his own portrait with Reynolds in 1755. Lady Standish sat for Reynolds four times during 1758, which resulted in a half-length portrait depicting her wearing a white dress and black wrap. A great experimenter with paint, Reynolds was hailed by his admirers and reviled by his critics. This portrait is typical of the artist’s work of the 1750s, when he developed the technique of ‘dead colouring,’ in which monochrome, or near monochrome, paint layers were used to create luminous flesh tones. That this technique is made explicit here, makes this striking portrait a testament not only to the sitter’s patronage, but also to the pioneering painter himself. It carries an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 (lot 96).
 |
The scholarly and the historic objects which form the highpoints of the collection are balanced with charming Chinese lamps (e.g. a pair of Yongzheng-style ground and floral enamelled vases fitted as lamps, possibly French, Edme Samson, late 19th/20th century. Estimate £400-600 lot 43), comfortable sofas and chairs (e.g. a mahogany and upholstered ‘barrel’ back armchair dating from circa 1820. Estimate £800-£1,200 (Lot 85). Colourful rugs, baroque tapestry hangings and embroidered seats give warmth and texture (e.g. a late 17th century/early 18th century Flemish mythological tapestry of Diana the Huntress. Estimate £6,000-£8,000 lot 49), among the polished mahogany and inlaid satinwood. However not all is English or ‘classic’ and among the traditional furniture and portraiture, there are fascinating and unusual pieces, for example a secretaire by a Boulogne maker, (an Empire mahogany and gilt metal mounted secretaire abattant by Martal Freres, Boulougne, circa 1820. Estimate £1,000-£1,500 lot 147), a Regency cabinet embellished with carved and painted Chinese Buddhistic emblems (e.g. a rosewood, parcel gilt and red lacquer side cabinet dating from circa 1820. Applied with a Chinese red lacquer and parcel gilt super structure and further Chinese embellishments elements to the drawers and cupboard doors. The cabinet was supplied to Henry Charles Howard, 9th Baron Beaumont (1848-1892), 13th Duke of Norfolk (1791-1856) for Carlton Towers. Estimate £200-£300 lot 47). This timeless mix of Englishness and curiosity is what underpins and holds together so many collections from these Isles which, as is evident in the case here, are formed with dedication, taste, discrimination and considerable style.
The auction will take place alongside another sale of the contents of the most important Neoclassical house in Scotland, Cairness House in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, in the popular Dreweatts Town & Country series (separate press release available). Both sales showcase the collecting passions of two academic households, who have selected works for their exceptional quality and provenance. The auction of both collections will take place at Dreweatts auction house on January 31, 2024.
