Physical description
A gilt pinewood console table with a rectangular Siena marble top, the frieze decorated with acanthus leaves above a dentil moulding and supported on acanthus scrolls and garrya husks centred by a female mask. With a Greek-key frieze on the waisted fluted pedestal and with a rectangular platform base.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1727 - 1732 (made)
Artist/maker
William Kent (designer)
Boson, John (carver)
Materials and Techniques
Carved and gilded soft wood with Siena marble top
Marks and inscriptions
[Console table] "Devonshire no.26"
[Console table] 'Dining Room'
Dimensions
Height: 88.9 cm, Width: 68.6 cm, Depth: 44.5 cm
[Marble table top] Width: 68.6 cm, Depth: 44.5 cm
Object history note
One of a pair of tables which were made for Richard Boyle, third earl of Burlington(1685-1748) for Chiswick House; his daughter married theMarquess of Hartington(later Duke of Devonshire) and Chiswick and its contents were inherited by her husband after her death and passed by descent to successive Dukes of Devonshire. The 'Dining Room' label on the reverse records that the tables were moved to the Link Building, at Chiswick, which was used for dining. The tables were moved to Devonshire House, London later in the 19th century; to Chatsworth, Derbyshire in the 20th century, where the pair can still be seen; this table was sold from Chatsworth and belonged to R.A.Harrari O.B.E.; Sotheby's 30 April 1971 lot 114; bought by the V&A.An early example of furniture designed by an architect for a newly created Palladian setting. The designer, William Kent, was a close friend of the patron, the amateur architect, Richard Boyle, third earl of Burlington. They met on the Grand Tour in Italy, where Burlington studied the architecture of Andrea Palladio (1508-80). The villa at Chiswick was inspired by Palladio's Villa Rotunda at Vicenza and built to Lord Burlington's designs between 1724 and 1727. The interior was decorated and furnished to the designs of William Kent by a team of craftsmen including cabinet-maker Benjamin Goodison and carver and gilder John Boson.
Supplied for the Sculpture Gallery at Chiswick House, LondonDesigned by William Kent (born in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, 1685, died in London, 1748); probably carved by John Boson (active 1720- after 1743)
Made in London
Historical significance: The table's pedestal design is dominated by a central female mask flanked by acanthus scrolls and husk festoons. It refers to the Roman architect Vitruvius's story of the origin of the Corinthian capital: that a basket placed on an acanthus plant broke into leaf. Vitruvius regarded the Corinthian order of architecture as having feminine qualities. The design is original in its adaptation of architectural elements to create a new form of furniture.
Historical context note
The pair of tables may have originally been intended for the Sculpture Gallery at Chiswick, although they were recorded in Lady Burlington's bedroom in an inventory of 1770. This was published by Treve Rosoman in 'The decoration and use of the principal apartments of Chiswick House, 1727-70', The Burlington Magazine, Volume CXXVII, no.991, October, 1985,pp.663-677. The Greek key frieze on the waisted fluted pedestal picks up the same motif which occurs at dado height beneath the four niches for sculpture in the Gallery. This is 14.5 cms deep, whereas on the tables it is just over half that height at 7.5 cms. The central female masks are echoed by those on the mantelpieces in the Octagon and Circular rooms which are situated at either end of the The 'Dining Room' label on the reverse records that the tables were moved to the Link Building, at Chiswick, which was used for dining.
Descriptive line
Chiswick giltwood console table with Sienna marble top designed by William Kent, circa 1730
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Vardy, John. Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. William Kent, 1744, plate 40
Brackett, Oliver. Catalogue of Furniture from Montagu House, Devonshire House and Grosvenor House. London. Victoria and Albert Museum, 1917, p.3, plate II.
Includes other furniture designed by William Kent for Lord Burlington for Chiswick and for Devonshire House
Ward-Jackson, Peter. English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century. London, H.M.S.O.,1968, pl. 15
Dutton, Ralph. The English Interior, 1500-to 1900. London. B.T. Batsford. 1948. fig.83
Illustrates a watercolour by William Hunt, dated 1828, showing one of the console tables in front of the Venetian window in the Sculpture Gallery at Chiswick.
Wilk, Christopher (ed.). Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day. London, Philip Wilson in association with the V&A. 1996. p.88
Lenygon, Francis. Furniture in England from 1660 to 1760. London. 1914. p.26, fig.198
Baker, Malcolm and Richardson, Brenda. A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London. Victoria and Albert Museum. 1997. no.152, p.326.
The table illustrates the section on 'National Consciousness, National Heritage, and the Idea of "Englishness".
"The Museum's acquisition in 1971 of this piece of furniture designed by William Kent for the earl of Burlington's Chiswick House acknowledged the importance of both a designer and a patron who are recognised as central figures in the development of English Neo-Palladianism. The acquisition of such a securely documented piece also reflected the growing concern of furniture historians from the 1960s onward about issues related to provenance and original setting.
The table was made for Lord Burlington's villa at Chiswick, west of London, built in the mid-1720s as an English response to Andrea Palladio's famous Villa Rotonda in Vicenza. Chiswick's interior was decorated and furnished under Lord Burlington's supervision to the designs of William Kent, whom he met on the grand tour in Italy. Chiswick became the touchstone of Neo-Palladian architecture, and Lord Burlington was known as the "Modern Vitruvius." The table is one of a pair, and passed through Burlington's daughter to the duke of Devonshire's family; its counterpart, like much original furniture from Chiswick, now forms part of the Devonshire collections at Chatsworth, Derbyshire. While still part of this collection, then at Devonshire House in London, the table was catalogued by V&A curator Oliver Bracket, and thus was well known to the Museum. During the next few decades the roles of Kent and Burlington received more attention, notably through the work of H. Avray Tipping, the editor of Country Life, Margaret Jourdain, and the architectural historian Rudolf Wittkower.
The reassessment of Kent and Burlington has been carried further by recent attempts to reconstitute the interiors of Chiswick House by placing some examples of the home's original contents (including this table) in their original settings. In making a long-term loan of this fine table to Chiswick House, the Museum is acknowledging the importance of understanding applied arts objects in context, that is, pointing up how the furniture was designed for and used in a particular interior. The display of furniture in period houses and its display in museums offer different but complementary perspectives on objects as form and function.
Lit. Vardy, 1740, plate 40; Brackett, 1919, nos. 6, 7; Wilk, 1996, p. 88
TESSA MURDOCH"
Exhibition History
Precious: Objects and Changing Values (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 02/04/2001-24/06/2001)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum 12/10/1999-16/01/2000)
Furniture from Montagu House, Devonshire House and Grosvenor House (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1917-31/12/1917)
Labels and date
CONSOLE TABLE
ENGLISH: about 1730
Gilded wood with Siena marble slab
Designed by William Kent for Lord Burlington's villa, Chiswick House. The pair to this table is at Chatsworth, Derbyshire.
Museum No. W.14-1971
British Galleries:
This table is one of the earliest documented pieces of Palladian furniture. The form of the giltwood frame was based on the capital of a Corinthian column. The Roman writer, Vitruvius (70-15 BCE) had written that the Corinthian capital was first copied from a basket, found with the leaves of an acanthus plant growing through it. [27/03/2003]
Production Note
Probably made by John Boson (active 1720-43). Boson specialized in architectural carving and the production of marble chimneypieces. He supplied both carved stonework and furniture for the interiors at Chiswick. He also worked to Kent's designs for furniture for the Gallery and Drawing Room at Kew Palace for Frederick, Prince of Wales. A carved giltwood mirror in the V&A, Museum number W.86-1911 is almost certainly the 'Rich Tabernacle' which hung as a pier glass in the Drawing Room at Kew. The style of the acanthus leaf carving on this mirror is close to that on the Chiswick console table and supports the attribution to Boson. The design of much of the Palladian furniture of this period is attributed to Kent and the Chiswick console table is a rare documented example.
Attribution note: one of a pair
Reason For Production: Commission
Materials
Pine
Techniques
Carving
Subjects depicted
Foliage; Acanthus; Mask; Key pattern
Categories
Furniture; Woodwork; Architecture
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
FWK
