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Trestle Fire Screen

1788-1795 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 1788 the Carlisle MP John Christian started to remodel his house, Workington Hall, on the west coast of Cumbria. He, and his wife Isabella Curwen (whose name he adopted in 1790) employed the Lancaster firm of Gillows. This firm had recently expanded their Lancaster workshops to undertake all branches of upholstery as well as cabinet making. The elegant mahogany frame is typical of pieces that they supplied for Workington. The panel of the screen is of French tapestry, from the Gobelins workshops in Paris, and signed by the Scottish director of the workshops, Jacques Neilson. It is probable that John Christian bought this panel during the travels for his Grand Tour, made between 1779 and 1782. The design is based on a drawing by François Boucher (1703-1770) entitled ‘The Little Farm Girl’. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Gobelins workshops promoted the sale of such small panels, which, of course, made ideal souvenirs for travellers.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved mahogany, set with a panel of woollen tapestry, backed with silk damask
Brief description
A trestle fire screen of mahogany, the panel of Gobelins tapesty, showing, in a cartouche against a crimson ground, a small girl seated beside a milk churn, a dog playing to one side. The panel is signed 'Nielsen ex'.
Physical description
A trestle fire screen, of carved mahogany, the panel of Gobelins tapestry, lined with an amber-coloured silk damask (probably dating from the 1830s or later). The slim, down-curving legs of the trestles are square in section and carved with husks at top and bottom, within a recessed panel that runs the full length of the legs, above the outset pads of the feet. The square-sectioned side supports are similarly carved and joined by top and bottom rails that are triple lobed. The centre of the lower rail is carved with formal flower heads. It is joined by a carved, pierced ribbon bow to the top of an arching, low stretcher, springing from the top of the trestle at each side. This is carved in the form of reeds bound with ribbons that run from the central bow above. The tri-lobed top rail is carved centrally on the front face with a cresting of three ostrich feathers tied by a ribbon and draped with elongated leaves, and on the reverse with a fan-shaped half patera. The top of the uprights were originally finished with finials in the form of vases (as mentioned in the original estimate) but these have been replaced with flat, turned roundels. The tapestry panel, of wool and silk, shows a cartouche against a crimson ground, framed in S-scrolls and flowers. Within the cartouche is a rural scene in which a young girl sits, beside a churn, eating cream from a basin in her lap. She looks to her left, where a small dog leaps up. This design is based on a drawing by François Boucher (1703-1770) titled 'La Petite Fermière ( 'The Little Farm Girl'). The reverse of the screen is covered with an amber-coloured silk damask, probably of 1830s date, though copying the style of silks of the eighteenth century (nb. the original bill mentions green damask, so the current covering cannot be original)
Dimensions
  • Height: 54 3/4 in
  • Width: 27in (Note: Taken from accession record and not recently checked on object)
Marks and inscriptions
Neilson ex (Signature of Jacques Neilson, director of the low-warp Gobelins tapestry factory, Paris, from 1749 to 1788.)
Gallery label
  • FIRESCREEN ENGLISH; about 1788 Mahogany frame with French Gobelins tapestry Frame made by the firm of Gillow. The tapestry is woven after a drawing by Francois Boucher called 'La Petite Fermiere'. It is signed 'Neilson ex.' Jacques Nielson was in charge of the tapestry weaving atelier at the Gobelins. W.56-1962 Note: Two spellings of Nielson in description.(pre 1996)
  • FIRESCREEN BRITISH; 1788, made by the firm of Gillow, of Lancaster and London (founded c. 1730) Mahogany; panel of tapestry made in the workshop of Jacques Neilson (Gobelins, Paris, 1749-1788) Illustrated in the Estimate Sketch Books used by Gillows, one of three supplied to John Christian of Workington, Cumbria. The tapestry is after a drawing by F. Boucher (1703-70). 'La Petite Fermière' ('The Little Farm Girl') and signed 'Neilson ex.' Bequeathed by Mr Claude Rotch Museum No. W.56-1962(01/01/1996)
Credit line
Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch
Object history
This screen, with two other matching ones, was made for John Christian (1756-1828) of Workington Hall, Cumbria. He was a landowner with considerable mining rights in the area and was MP for Carlisle for many years. He made his Grand Tour from1779-1782, having inherited the estate from his father in 1767. In 1782 he married (as his second wife) his cousin, Isabella Curwen, an heiress, and in 1790 he eventually took her name, becoming John Christian Curwen. The couple became clients of Gillows for their houses, including Ewanrigg Hall and Belle Isle, a circular house on an island in Lake Windermere. From 1788 he re-modelled Workington Hall, employing John Carr of York as his architect and Gillows to provide all the furniture. He was the first major client of Gillows after they expanded their Lancaster workshops in 1785 to take on all branches of upholstery as well as cabinet making.

Gillows accounts make it clear that Christian supplied the tapestry panel for the screen. This was made in Paris, in the Gobelins workshops, which, from 1749, were under the direction of Jacques Neilson, a Scottish immigrant to Paris. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Gobelins workshops were promoting such small panels (in addition to large tapestries), both for chair covers and screens, and also as independent pictures. It is probable that Christian purchase this panel (and perhaps two others for the second and third screens) during his Grand Tour. A number were clearly purchased for British collections.

The design for this screen appears in the Gillows estimate sketch books no. ES456, dated 1787-8 (ESB 1787-8, p. 457, opposite a sketch on p. 456) on Dec 1st 1788, as one of three:

'A Mahog Fire Screen
Top Rail 1 3/4 ft ... In Mahy @ 10d. fit 0. 1. 5 1/2
Stay Rail 3/4 ft do Do @ 10d. ft 0. 0 . 7 1/2
Claws 1 1/2 feet 9 in Do @ 10d ft 0. 1. 3
Stiles and Feet ... to In Do @ 10d ft 0. 0. 10
Ribbon and Curved rail the wood 0. 2. 0
Carved Molding by H. Gibson 1. 2. 3
Making by Sam Cooper 7 Dys 7 8 0.17.10 1/2
Glue Screws and Incidl. 0. 2. 0
Turning 2 Vauses 6d, Woodford. 3d. 0. 0. 9
4 1/2 feet of 12 In Oak the panel 2 3/4 0. 8. 4 1/2
Varnishing the frame 0. 3. 0
Our Damask on one side & Your 2. 10. 5
Tapestry on the other & covering wt O. an. x
Canvas finest & C.............. I. a. a'



Gillows Waste Book for the following month includes:

' Lancaster Jany 1789
[In margin ES 456]

Jno. Christian Esqr. bro over Dr to. £64
For three very large & elegant Mahogany Screens
for your Tapestry, the Stiles molded &
carved with swags of Husks also all the
the [sic] Claws Top enriched wth Carving
to suit your other furniture & a handsome
rail at the bottom reeded & Carved Ribbon
Knot to tie round in a compleat manner
neat turned & Carved Vauses at the Top
the whole highly Varnish'd @ 3 gns 9. 9.0

For fixing your Tapistry on oneside
and our green Damask on the other
an brown linen under to preserve
it @ 13/= 1.19.0


The screen was probably sold from Workington in 1932 (catalogue to be traced). The history of the screen from that point until it came into the possession of Claude Rotch (who bequeathed it to the Museum) is not yet known. It was bequeathed in 1962 (Registered File: 61/3151, Nominal File: MA/1/R1719). At that time the screen was not recognized to be by Gillow, or from Workington.
Associations
Summary
In 1788 the Carlisle MP John Christian started to remodel his house, Workington Hall, on the west coast of Cumbria. He, and his wife Isabella Curwen (whose name he adopted in 1790) employed the Lancaster firm of Gillows. This firm had recently expanded their Lancaster workshops to undertake all branches of upholstery as well as cabinet making. The elegant mahogany frame is typical of pieces that they supplied for Workington. The panel of the screen is of French tapestry, from the Gobelins workshops in Paris, and signed by the Scottish director of the workshops, Jacques Neilson. It is probable that John Christian bought this panel during the travels for his Grand Tour, made between 1779 and 1782. The design is based on a drawing by François Boucher (1703-1770) entitled ‘The Little Farm Girl’. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Gobelins workshops promoted the sale of such small panels, which, of course, made ideal souvenirs for travellers.
Bibliographic references
  • Tomlin, Maurice, Victoria and Albert Museum. Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture. London: HMSO, 1972, p. 187
  • Nichols, Sarah C., 'Furniture made by Gillow and Company for Workington Hall', The Magazine Antiques, June 1985, vol. CXXVII, no. 6, pp.1352 -1359
  • Symonds, R. W., 'A Suite of Dining-Room Furniture', The Antique Collector, Nov.- Dec. 1946, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 219-224
Collection
Accession number
W.56-1962

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Record createdJanuary 26, 2001
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