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拍品专文
This pair of pedestals, probably from a set of six, of which four remain in the collection of the Earl of Radnor at Longford Castle, Wiltshire, was almost certainly supplied by the Royal cabinet-maker, Benjamin Goodison (c. 1700-1767) to Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (1694-1761) for Longford Castle between 1730 and 1740.
1st Viscount Folkestone and Longford Castle
The most important refurbishment occurred under the 1st Viscount’s tenure in the 1730s and 40s, and coincided with his ennoblement in 1747 (Smith, Amelia Lucy Rose (2017) Acquisition, patronage and display: contextualising the art collections of Longford Castle during the long eighteenth century. Doctoral thesis, Birkbeck, University of London, p. 84). Descended from a Huguenot silk weaver, Laurens des Bouverie (1536-1610), the family made their fortune in the 17th century while working for the Levant Company. In 1717, Sir Edward Des Bouverie, who had joined a community of City of London merchants four years earlier, acquired Longford Castle, and thereafter the family transferred their business interests from trade to the acquisition of land, through purchase, lease and inheritance (ibid., p. 25).
The 1st Viscount was the family’s first important patron and collector of art. Three of the most extravagantly decorated state rooms on the piano nobile, the Round Parlour, the Picture Gallery and the Green Velvet Drawing Room, with their innovative white-painted and gilded boiserie were refurbished under the aegis of the 1st Viscount expressly to display artworks. The best and most expensive 18th century London craftsmen were employed to supply furniture; their number included Benjamin Goodison, the probable maker of these pedestals, William Hallett (c. 1707-1781), William Vile (c. 1700-1767) and his business partner, John Cobb (c. 1710-1778), and William Bradshaw (1728-1775).
Benjamin Goodison and William Kent
As listed in Lord Bouverie’s House Book, which itemizes household and personal expenses between 1723 and 1745, Goodison’s name frequently appears and as he received the most important payments suggests he probably executed these pedestals. The payments to Goodison equate to £872.11.6 over six years, from December 1737 to December 1743.
In the same period, the accounts note a ‘Mr. Kent’, conceivably the architect and furniture designer, William Kent (c. 1685-1748), painting and gilding sundry rooms, probably at Longford Castle as the ‘Chappell’ is mentioned (WSHC 1946/3/2A/8 and WSHC 1946/4/2A/6). Furthermore, at this date, this mansion was the favored residence of the Bouverie family (ibid.)
An additional pair of pedestals in the Picture Gallery, probably part of the magnificent suite of seat-furniture supplied by Goodison, is closely related to pedestals attributed to Kent at Rousham House, Oxfordshire (ed. S. Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven and London, 2013, p. 463, fig. 17.25; P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture: The Age of Mahogany, New York, 1906, p. 75, fig. 68). Furthermore, these pedestals can be compared with mahogany and gilt pedestals by Kent at Houghton, Norfolk (ibid., p. 74, fig. 67). Both the Longford and Rousham pedestals share the same form and some ornamentation including the drapery swags and acanthus roundels, also found on the present examples, and it is known that Goodison ‘worked to Kent’s designs’ (Smith, op. cit., p. 89).
While the cabinet-maker of this pair and the four remaining pedestals at Longford Castle cannot be conclusively identified, another possible candidate is William Vile (c. 1700-1767) based on the finely-carved small-scale decoration of these pedestals, which is characteristic of his oeuvre. In this period, Vile was working as a journeyman for William Hallett Snr. (c. 1707-1781), who made bookcases and cabinets in the ‘Kentian’ tradition. Payments to ‘Mr. Hallet the Cabinet-maker’ first appear in Lord Folkestone’s accounts in December 1738 when he was paid £42.0.0, and thereafter, May 1739, £35.12.0, May 1743, £15.15.0 and April 1746, £8.1.0. Vile, who was later to enter into partnership with John Cobb to become Cabinet-makers and Upholsters to George III, is also listed under his own name but not until the mid-1760s when he was at the apogee of his career, a date too late for the creation of these pedestals.
1st Viscount Folkestone and Longford Castle
The most important refurbishment occurred under the 1st Viscount’s tenure in the 1730s and 40s, and coincided with his ennoblement in 1747 (Smith, Amelia Lucy Rose (2017) Acquisition, patronage and display: contextualising the art collections of Longford Castle during the long eighteenth century. Doctoral thesis, Birkbeck, University of London, p. 84). Descended from a Huguenot silk weaver, Laurens des Bouverie (1536-1610), the family made their fortune in the 17th century while working for the Levant Company. In 1717, Sir Edward Des Bouverie, who had joined a community of City of London merchants four years earlier, acquired Longford Castle, and thereafter the family transferred their business interests from trade to the acquisition of land, through purchase, lease and inheritance (ibid., p. 25).
The 1st Viscount was the family’s first important patron and collector of art. Three of the most extravagantly decorated state rooms on the piano nobile, the Round Parlour, the Picture Gallery and the Green Velvet Drawing Room, with their innovative white-painted and gilded boiserie were refurbished under the aegis of the 1st Viscount expressly to display artworks. The best and most expensive 18th century London craftsmen were employed to supply furniture; their number included Benjamin Goodison, the probable maker of these pedestals, William Hallett (c. 1707-1781), William Vile (c. 1700-1767) and his business partner, John Cobb (c. 1710-1778), and William Bradshaw (1728-1775).
Benjamin Goodison and William Kent
As listed in Lord Bouverie’s House Book, which itemizes household and personal expenses between 1723 and 1745, Goodison’s name frequently appears and as he received the most important payments suggests he probably executed these pedestals. The payments to Goodison equate to £872.11.6 over six years, from December 1737 to December 1743.
In the same period, the accounts note a ‘Mr. Kent’, conceivably the architect and furniture designer, William Kent (c. 1685-1748), painting and gilding sundry rooms, probably at Longford Castle as the ‘Chappell’ is mentioned (WSHC 1946/3/2A/8 and WSHC 1946/4/2A/6). Furthermore, at this date, this mansion was the favored residence of the Bouverie family (ibid.)
An additional pair of pedestals in the Picture Gallery, probably part of the magnificent suite of seat-furniture supplied by Goodison, is closely related to pedestals attributed to Kent at Rousham House, Oxfordshire (ed. S. Weber, William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven and London, 2013, p. 463, fig. 17.25; P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture: The Age of Mahogany, New York, 1906, p. 75, fig. 68). Furthermore, these pedestals can be compared with mahogany and gilt pedestals by Kent at Houghton, Norfolk (ibid., p. 74, fig. 67). Both the Longford and Rousham pedestals share the same form and some ornamentation including the drapery swags and acanthus roundels, also found on the present examples, and it is known that Goodison ‘worked to Kent’s designs’ (Smith, op. cit., p. 89).
While the cabinet-maker of this pair and the four remaining pedestals at Longford Castle cannot be conclusively identified, another possible candidate is William Vile (c. 1700-1767) based on the finely-carved small-scale decoration of these pedestals, which is characteristic of his oeuvre. In this period, Vile was working as a journeyman for William Hallett Snr. (c. 1707-1781), who made bookcases and cabinets in the ‘Kentian’ tradition. Payments to ‘Mr. Hallet the Cabinet-maker’ first appear in Lord Folkestone’s accounts in December 1738 when he was paid £42.0.0, and thereafter, May 1739, £35.12.0, May 1743, £15.15.0 and April 1746, £8.1.0. Vile, who was later to enter into partnership with John Cobb to become Cabinet-makers and Upholsters to George III, is also listed under his own name but not until the mid-1760s when he was at the apogee of his career, a date too late for the creation of these pedestals.