Settee
ca. 1725-1730 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This settee still has its original tapestry covers, which were woven in England, almost certainly in London. It formed part of a large suite, with 16 chairs and a second settee, which came from Glemham Hall in Suffolk. Glemham was an Elizabethan house in origin, but in 1709 it was purchased by Dudley North (1684-1729), son of a prominent merchant. North made substantial alterations to the house between 1712 and 1722, and probably commissioned this furniture shortly afterwards. The large size of the suite and the use of tapestry covers, which were very expensive, suggest that it was made for a drawing room.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved walnut, with original tapestry covers |
| Brief description | English 1720-30, with tapestry covers, from Glemham Hall, Suffolk |
| Physical description | Settee in carved walnut. Shaped and curved arms, six cabriole legs, the front three carved on the knees with scallop-shells in relief. Rectangular back and seat upholstered in contemporary Soho tapestry with a design of flowers and foliage, mainly in reds and greens, on a deep rose ground. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Summary | This settee still has its original tapestry covers, which were woven in England, almost certainly in London. It formed part of a large suite, with 16 chairs and a second settee, which came from Glemham Hall in Suffolk. Glemham was an Elizabethan house in origin, but in 1709 it was purchased by Dudley North (1684-1729), son of a prominent merchant. North made substantial alterations to the house between 1712 and 1722, and probably commissioned this furniture shortly afterwards. The large size of the suite and the use of tapestry covers, which were very expensive, suggest that it was made for a drawing room. |
| Bibliographic reference | Victoria & Albert Museum: Fifty Masterpieces of Woodwork (London, 1955), No. 34
The Glemham Settee
On 22nd January, 1699, Elihu Yale (1649-1721), merchant and collector, ended a far from blameless career as Governor of Fort St George, now Madras. His passion for textiles had served the East India Company well. The Anglo-Indian taste of his time is seen in a well-known set of Soho tapestries, bought soon after his retirement and illustrating 'half-Hindu' scenes with which he was familiar. Heirs male failing him, much of his money went, from 1717, to the College in New Haven, Connecticut: the four tapestries followed long afterwards.
In 1707 'old Eli', a great dealer in diamonds, was at 'shift' to spare £20,000 to marry his eldest daughter (the 'niece Catherine' of Roger North's charming Notes of Me) to Dudley North the Second (d. 1729). The sensibilities of Yale were thus added to the musical talents of the Norths. Glemham Hall, Suffolk, was re-built and mostly furnished by this elegant and affluent couple before 1717.
This beautiful settee, one of a pair from Glemham, dates soon after the marriage. Its naturalistic flowers, on a soft rose ground, form a delightful blend of colour and suggest that the tapestry was made at Mortlake. The proportions are carefully calculated and though the design of the woodwork is simple it provides and admirable foil for the decorative colour.
The settee was bought in 1947.
Date of receipt: 24/07/1947
Bought for £1,050 from Phillips of Hitchin Ltd., The Manor House, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
From Glemham Hall, Suffolk:
One of a pair with a settee purchased from the same vendor for £1,050 on the recommendation of the Museum for the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, by the Agent-General for Victoria (R.P. 47/1378).
One of the pair illustrated by H. A. Tipping in the Hall at Glemham Hall, Suffolk, Country Life Vol. XXVII (1910) p. 18 illus.
One of the pair illustrated by W.G. Thomson, Tapestry Weaving in England (1914), p. 133 fig. 37, as then at Glemham Hall in the Possession of R. Eden Dickson, to whom descended most of the treasures of Glemham, and who was a younger son of the Dowager Lady North, grandmother of the 8th Earl of Guildford (b. 1876) to whom Glemham belonged (G.E.C. new ed. S.W.).
Illustrated by F. Lenygon Furniture in England (1914) p. 80, fig. 130, with the same ownership (the tapestry being there ascribed to John Vanderbank).
One of the pair illustrated by E.F. Strange in Ol Furniture, Vil. II (1927), p. 131, fig. 2, as then at Waldershare Park, Kent, in possession of the Earl of Guildford, with description of the tapestry as Mortlake. In Director’s minute, 29th June 1947 in 47/1179, the tapestry is acknowledged as Soho.
Part of a set consisting of the two settees and 16 single chairs, sold at Christie's, August 1945 for £4,095, as removed form Waldershare Park and formerly at Glemham. Set bought by vendor 1945-1947 from Frank Partridge for £5,000. Exhibited by vendor at Antique Dealers’ Fair, June 1947.
The 8th Earl of Guildford, who died in November 1949, in letter dated 4th November 1947 in R.P. 47/2676 states:
“The whole 18 pieces (i.e. the Museum Settee and the Melbourne settee plus the 16 single chairs en suite with them) were always at Glemham tough Country Life, Jan. 1st 1910 only refers to one of them. If my memory serves me, one settee was usually in the Hall and the other in the State bedroom, and the whole set was moved here (Waldershare Park, Dover) on 1910 where they remained until going upi to Christie’s.”
The reference by H. A. Tipping in Country Life (‘of which the settee is in the Hall…’) is therefore and erroneous presumption that only one settee was at Glemham at the time.
The 16 single chair were sold to a customer of Phillips of Hitchin.
“The brick red ground is found on a lot of English ‘furniture tapestry’ while it is uncommon in the Continent, I think.” P.K.T., 1967.
References: Registered papers: Secretary, R.P. 47/1179.
Label (1986):
SETTEE
Walnut. Upholstered in contemporary Sosho tapestry.
English, early 18th century.
One of a pair, (the other now in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne), from a set which included sixteen chairs, from Glemham Hall, Suffolk. The were made for a member of the North family, later Earls of Guildford. A russet-coloured ground is often found on English tapestries used for upholstery and made during the first third of the 18th century.
SALE OF PITT HOUSE
The Earl of Clarendon has purchased Pitt House, the mansion in North End Road, Hampstead Heath, for some time the abode of William Pitt during the time of his much debated seclusions. The first Lord Chatham’s association with Pitt House invests the place with peculiar interest. Named “Wildwoods” in the Domesday, the property subsequently came to known as North End Place, North End House and then Pitt House. Mrs. Valentine Fleming, the vendor, spent a large sum in modernising and improving the property, and a reception hall over 50ft. In length has been added in recent years.
Lord Chatham secluded himself in the house in 1767, when it belonged to Lord North, and the room that he used has been preserved substantially unaltered. The garret in which he spent so much time was only 13ft. By 8ft., with a kind of box affixed to the door, so that me melancholy, gout-ridden statesman might escape being seen even by the servant who waited upon him.
When the property was mentioned, in the Estate Market page of COUNTRY LIFE on June 9th last, as being for sale by Messrs. Knight, Frank and Rutley, a few remarks by Mr. Harold Spender, describing a visit to the place, were quoted, in which he said that “Pitt House is panelled throughout with that delicate mastery of detail which made our ancestors such great room-makers. The moulings of the ceilings and staircases make it a fairy place of the finest workmanship.” |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.29-1947 |
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| Record created | February 15, 2001 |
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