Sofa of carved and gilded wood, upholstered in silk, 1825-1830, British, designed for the Drawing Room at Syon House, supplied by Robert Hughes

One of a pair of sofas, carved and gilded wooden frame upholstered with silk damask

Given by The Monument Fund through Art Fund

Supplied by Robert Hughes to the Duke of Northumberland for the Drawing Room at Syon House in the late 1820s. The pair, described as 'two large sofas 9' long and richly carved and gilt.... mat and burnished stuft ... 6 pillows ... covered in figured damask .. double gimp cord on the edges ....48 silk tassels' cost £587.12s.0d. The design for the settee was based on a design of seat furniture for the same room made by the architect Robert Adam in the 1760s, but with additional scrolls reflecting the luxurious Rococo Revival style of the 1820s. The upholstery is close to the original 1760s wall hangings of the room but does not match it exactly. The sofa and its pair both originally had six 'pillow' cushions with silk tassels, but these have been lost.

Robert Hughes was in partnership with Nicholas Morel from 1810-1826, when the partnership was working for the Prince Regent. The firm worked for the Duke of Northumberland in the earlier 1820s, supplying what Ackermann's Repository of the Arts described in 1825 as 'Magnificent Furniture' but Robert Hughes appears to have worked on his own from 1826.

Sold from Syon House at Sotheby's, London, 11 April 1975, lot 158, with its pair.
This sofa was donated to the Museum by The Monument Trust, through The Art Fund. Its pair (W.21-1975) was purchased with the support of 7 London dealers (RF 75/1025).

In 1975 the top cover from this sofa was used to provide fabric to re-cover W.21-1975, for show in the galleries.

The design of the silk is close to that originally on the walls of the Drawing Room at Audley End. This pattern was copied by Warners, Silk Weavers, in 1876, but it is not known who the client was. In 1962 it was re-made for Audley End. According to Nathalie Rothstein the silk on this sofa was woven on a loom dating from before 1830, but could not have been woven in the 18th century.

W.21A/1,2-1975