Wall Bracket
1695-1710 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
By the 1680s, richly carved wall brackets served as stands for individual pieces of Chinese porcelain. Later brackets, dating from the 1730s, were designed to take busts and so were more bulky. The delicate structure of this example indicates that it would not have supported anything heavier than a porcelain vase.
Time
The fashion in Britain for rooms bedecked with Chinese porcelain was established by Mary II who reigned from 1688 to 1694. The Queen was an enthusiastic collector, who adorned her private apartments at Kensington Palace, London, and Hampton Court, Middlesex, in this way. From 1703 the court architect, Daniel Marot, published a series of engravings showing small private rooms, or cabinets, decorated with porcelain. The walls bear a profusion of jars and vases, many of them placed on similar brackets.
Ownership & Use
The bracket formerly belonged to Percy Macquoid, the eminent furniture historian of the early decades of the 20th century. His most famous works are The History of English Furniture (1904-1908) and the Dictionary of English Furniture (1924-1927), which he wrote in collaboration with Ralph Edwards, who later became Keeper of the Furniture Department of the V& A. These remained the two standard works on English furniture until the 1950s. The latter publication included an illustration of this bracket as a particularly fine example of furniture of a highly sought after period.
By the 1680s, richly carved wall brackets served as stands for individual pieces of Chinese porcelain. Later brackets, dating from the 1730s, were designed to take busts and so were more bulky. The delicate structure of this example indicates that it would not have supported anything heavier than a porcelain vase.
Time
The fashion in Britain for rooms bedecked with Chinese porcelain was established by Mary II who reigned from 1688 to 1694. The Queen was an enthusiastic collector, who adorned her private apartments at Kensington Palace, London, and Hampton Court, Middlesex, in this way. From 1703 the court architect, Daniel Marot, published a series of engravings showing small private rooms, or cabinets, decorated with porcelain. The walls bear a profusion of jars and vases, many of them placed on similar brackets.
Ownership & Use
The bracket formerly belonged to Percy Macquoid, the eminent furniture historian of the early decades of the 20th century. His most famous works are The History of English Furniture (1904-1908) and the Dictionary of English Furniture (1924-1927), which he wrote in collaboration with Ralph Edwards, who later became Keeper of the Furniture Department of the V& A. These remained the two standard works on English furniture until the 1950s. The latter publication included an illustration of this bracket as a particularly fine example of furniture of a highly sought after period.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, carved and gilded over gesso; regilded probably in the late 19th century |
| Brief description | Wall bracket, English, 1695-1710, gilded wood |
| Physical description | Wooden wall bracket, carved and gilded. The top has a tabbed edging and is supported on two lions, the remainder of the design consists of scrolls and foliage divided by gadrooned members. At the base is a pendant of leaves with a conventional flower in the centre. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
Brackets were an important element in Baroque interiors, often clustered densely on walls to support massed displays of Chinese porcelain. Here the carver has included traditional heraldic lions among the Baroque scroll motifs, under an edging of lambrequins (tassled cloth motifs.)(27/03/2003) |
| Object history | Bracket purchased from Stair & Andrew Ltd Notes from R.P. 32/933 25/1/32 Objects submitted on Approval for Purchase form lists: Bracket, carved & giltwood. £20 20/1/32 Handwritten Minute paper entries refer to the bracket appearing in a catalogue of Mrs Macquoid's sale at (?) on Jan 18 & 19 - the carved gilt gesso wall bracket (illustrated in the Dictionary of Eng. Furniture Vol I, P.gg Fig.3). "….It is one of the earliest and best English wall brackets in existence, and, as you know that kind of furniture is…..(underpresented?) here". It was bought in by Stair & Andrew Ltd, who hope to obtain £25 for it…..The writer notes "the photograph does not do it justice, for it is extremely (lively?) in design and the gilding of excellent quality". Another handwritten Minute paper entry "I have known this bracket for many years and had often admired it on the walls of Mrs Macquoid's house….it is a fine example of English carved and gilt woodwork of the early 18th century". (the initials following this might be HCS or WCS - W or H Clifford Smith, CF.W/W.37-1927) |
| Summary | Object Type By the 1680s, richly carved wall brackets served as stands for individual pieces of Chinese porcelain. Later brackets, dating from the 1730s, were designed to take busts and so were more bulky. The delicate structure of this example indicates that it would not have supported anything heavier than a porcelain vase. Time The fashion in Britain for rooms bedecked with Chinese porcelain was established by Mary II who reigned from 1688 to 1694. The Queen was an enthusiastic collector, who adorned her private apartments at Kensington Palace, London, and Hampton Court, Middlesex, in this way. From 1703 the court architect, Daniel Marot, published a series of engravings showing small private rooms, or cabinets, decorated with porcelain. The walls bear a profusion of jars and vases, many of them placed on similar brackets. Ownership & Use The bracket formerly belonged to Percy Macquoid, the eminent furniture historian of the early decades of the 20th century. His most famous works are The History of English Furniture (1904-1908) and the Dictionary of English Furniture (1924-1927), which he wrote in collaboration with Ralph Edwards, who later became Keeper of the Furniture Department of the V& A. These remained the two standard works on English furniture until the 1950s. The latter publication included an illustration of this bracket as a particularly fine example of furniture of a highly sought after period. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.6-1932 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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