THE NEWHAILES LIBRARY CHAIRS

AFTER DESIGNS BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE AND WITH THEIR ORIGINAL AUBUSSON TAPESTRY England, circa 1755 Height 101 cm Width 75 cm Depth 76 cm

Provenance Until 1928: The Dalrymple family at Newhailes House, Scotland 1928: Partridge Then: Percy R Pyne, New York Mrs Robert G Elbert, New York Partridge, New York May 1960: Walter P Chrysler Jr, sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries Then: The Gerstenfeld Collection, Washington DC Mallett, London Private American Collection

The armchairs An important pair of mid 18th century carved mahogany library armchairs, the rectangular backs and seats and the armrests all upholstered in their original Aubusson tapestry depicting on one a cockerel and a fox and on the other a pheasant and a hare, within wreaths of flowers and arabesques; the arms with outcurving hand rests and moulded, sloping supports with flower-head terminals and beading, raised on square, pierced legs at front and back, with fret brackets embellished with entwined flowers and leaves, ending in guttae feet ad joined by four pierced fret stretchers. The cockerel chair back is inscribed: M.R.DAUBUSSON.MAGE. Two stretchers replaced

newhailes house These chairs, originally part of a set of four, remained in the Dalrymple family from the mid 18th century until 1928. (The second pair was sold in New York in 1998.) Such an established provenance is rare when so many examples of great English furniture remain undocumented. They were acquired by either General the Hon James St Clair, who died in 1762, or his widow, Janet (née Dalrymple), for her home at 60 Greek Street, London. After her death in 1766 they were purchased at the auction of the Greek Street house by her nephew, David Dalrymple (1726-1792), 1st Lord Hailes, for Newhailes House in Scotland. There they remained until 1928 when they were sold by Sir David Dalrymple. Newhailes House stands some four miles east of Edinburgh and takes its name from the ruined Hailes Castle in East Lothian, another Dalrymple family property. Originally named Whitehill, it was built by the architect James Smith, as his own home, around 1686. In 1709 it was purchased by Sir David Dalrymple, the youngest son of the Earl of Stair, who renamed it Newhailes. James Smith designed the original house as a neo-Palladian villa, with intimate interiors and small windows commensurate to its overall proportions. By 1720, William Adam had The Library at Newhailes (Country Life Picture Library)

completed a new wing for Sir David, making space for a magnificent library of far grander scale than any other room in the house, with large sash windows that filled it with light. It

The Newhailes entrance front. The original seven bay villa of 1686, with the library wing of 1719-20 on the right and the left wing with the great apartment, completed in 1733

The Library at Newhailes (Country Life Picture Library)

was in this great room that the 1st Lord Hailes, grandson of Sir David, later placed his four

Among Dalrymple papers are the manuscript of Lord Hailes’ Annals of Scotland, annotated

tapestry covered chairs. Further additions and embellishments were made at Newhailes

by Samuel Johnson, and letters of his contemporaries, including Hume, Robertson, Beatty

in the 18th century, including a second wing to balance the library extension and some

and Burke. Upon the death of Sir Mark Dalrymple in 1971, the contents of the library were

very fine rococo plasterwork. The hall was re-decorated in 1742 by the stuccoist, James

allocated to the National Library of Scotland, having been accepted by the Government

Clayton, who also provided an elaborate, architectural overmantel for the chimney-piece

in lieu of estate duty. Now a property of the National Trust for Scotland, Newhailes has

in the library. Although some 19th century alterations took place, much at Newhailes

been undergoing restoration and when this is complete it is intended that this great literary

today remains as it has been since the early 18th century and the house retains a

collection be returned to its rightful place.

remarkable atmosphere of its era. A celebrated collection of books and manuscripts was formed over the years, reaching its height under Lord Hailes, when the library at Newhailes was described by Dr Johnson

chippendale in the modern manner And THE FASHION FOR FRENCH TAPESTRY

as ‘the most learned room in Europe’. Although certain items were sold in 1937, it is nonetheless considered to be the most important contemporary collection to survive

The grand scale of these chairs, their overall design and the detail thereof are all strongly

from the period of the Scottish Enlightenment. There are approximately 7,000 volumes

indicative of their time. They represent Chippendale in the ‘Modern’ manner, as described

of British and foreign works from the 16th to the 18th century, plus numerous pamphlets

and illustrated in his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, bringing together, in a

and prints, maps and music. Particularly strongly represented are history and biography,

chair form he calls ‘French’, both Chinese and Roman ornament in one model. The pierced

politics, economics and theology, as well as much classical and contemporary literature.

fretwork may also be seen in his ‘Gothick’ chairs and the foliate entwined supports on his design for a ‘Chinese’ china cabinet.

Literature L Weaver, Newhailes, Midlothian, Country Life, 8 September 1917 The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, 1754, ‘Drawing for Gothick Chairs’.

P Duncan, Newhailes, East Lothian, Country Life, 29 January and 5 February 1987

General St Clair was a distinguished soldier and politician. In 1748 he was returning from his post as Military Envoy in Vienna and it is possible that he purchased the tapestries in Paris on that trip (Coutts Bank records show they arranged credit for him in Lyons and Paris at that time) and had the tapestries put on the chairs upon acquiring them at a later date. The likelihood is that the chairs were actually upholstered by one of the Bradshaw family of London furniture makers and tapestry makers. Soho was the centre of London tapestry making in the 18th century and Greek Street was at its heart. It happened that the St Clair’s home at 60 Greek Street was once part of the curtilage of the Bradshaws’ premises at 27 Soho Square, so they were close neighbours. William Bradshaw, although primarily an upholsterer, was also a prominent furniture maker in the 1730’s and 1740’s. However, given their later date, their sophistication of design and their quality, the chairs themselves were most probably made by one of the leading makers of the nearby St Martin’s Lane coterie, which included Chippendale himself. While demand for English tapestry had declined by the mid 18th century, the fashion for the French alternative had grown. Woven scenes drawn from the fables of La Fontaine appealed to the picturesque, fantasy mood of the rococo era and were widely used on English seat furniture. The tapestry on these chairs was made by Pierre Mage of the Aubusson factory, where he worked for no less than fifty years, until 1747.

J Cornforth, Newhailes, East Lothian, Country Life, 21 and 28 November 1996 I Gow, Scottish Houses and Gardens, London 1997 J Cornforth, Newhailes, Midlothian, Country Life, 22 August 2002

Ely House, 37 Dover Street, London W1S 4NJ Tel +44 (0) 20 7499 7411 929 Madison Avenue at 74th, New York 10021 Tel +1 212 249 8783 www.mallettantiques.com

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