Door and surround, carved, gilt and painted mahogany, designed by William Kent for Devonshire House, 1733-40

Six-panelled door and surround. The door is mahogany, with a carved, gilded bead and acanthus divide down its centre. Each panel has a narrow border of carved, gilded decoration. The door surround is painted, and outlined by four carved, gilded borders of acanthus, line and bead and reel decoration. The painted pediment juts out above an apron with gilded relief carving of floral scrolls, acanthus and cornucopia.

The door is decorated on one side only.

Given by The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture

This door was designed for the East Drawing Room (later the dining room) of Devonshire House in Piccadilly, London. After a fire severely damaged the Duke of Devonshire's London house in 1733, William Kent was chosen to rebuild it. Kent was at the time completing Kew House, Surrey, for the Prince of Wales, and also working on the Houses of Parliament.

Kent's plan at Devonshire House was very simple, suggesting that he retained some of the former building (designed by Hugh May and built from 1665). As published in 1767 in John Woolfe and James Gandon's Vitruvius Britannicus (vol 4, plate 20), the plan consisted of a series of reception rooms with a long corridor running down the centre. The lack of a grand staircase, and the direct interconnection of rooms (for ease of circulation for receptions), meant that doorways had great signifcance within the interior and offered good opportunities for decoration. This door is parcel gilded on one side only, indicating the direction of the reception route.

No documentation has been found for the building of the Devonshire House, other than a letter from Kent to the duke dated 22 July 1736, reporting that work was about to start on the attic, and a receipt of May 1 1740 for payment to workmen. Despite this lack of documentation, it is clear that the finest craftsmen were involved in the decoration of the house. It seems likely that John Boson (1705-43), a carver who had worked with Kent at Chiswick House, would have been among those reponsible for the finer carving of the chinmeypieces and architraves. The overmantel from the same room as this door features cornucopia, befitting a dining room. The chimneypiece of the room has swags of fruit and flowers, in tribute to Ceres.

Devonshire House was modified and redecorated in 1846 by Decimus Burton and J.C. Crace. The house was demolished in 1924-5, at which point fittings including this door were put into storage at Chatsworth House. This door and surround stayed in storage at Chatsworth until 2010, when they were sold at Sotheby's as part of the Chatsworth Attic Sale.

This door and surround were designed by the architect William Kent for Devonshire House, in London. After the Duke of Devonshire's London house was badly damaged by fire in 1733, Kent was commissioned to rebuild it. Devonshire House was one of Kent's most important commissions, and is part of a group of London houses which he designed for leading political and court figures. This was one of a series of doors connecting the ground floor reception rooms in Kent's plan. The door was in the East Drawing Room (later State Dining Room), on the garden front of the house. It is surmounted with carved decoration of floral sprays, acanthus and cornucopia, befitting a dining room. The room's overmantel also featured cornucopia, and the chimneypiece was carved with swags of fruit and flowers, in tribute to Ceres.

Devonshire House was demolished in 1924-25, at which point this door and other fittings were put into storage at Chatsworth House, the family's country seat.

W.3-2014