Pedestal or plinth for sculpture or candelabra, in the form of a term figure, with the head of a boy (looking slightly to his right), supporting an Ionic capital, in gilded pinewood. The shaft is supported on four high, scrolling feet.

Pedestal or plinth for sculpture or candelabra, of carved and gilded pinewood, in the form of a term, with a boy's head supporting an Ionic capital, the whole raise on four high, scrolling feet.The capital supports a square tablet with concave sides, carved with formal leaf motifs, above the scrolls of the Ionic capital that show raised outer fillets. A section of egg-and-dart carving sits between the scrolls on the front and sides, and the centre of the top edges on all three sides is carved with a flower-head. The shaft and the feet are carved in low relief with a scaly ground, between narrow framing fillets, which curl at the top of the pedestal to create a tight scroll on the sides, from which hang pendants of berries and leaves. On the front faces a pendant of grapes and leaves hangs from the acanthus that outlines the edge of the boy's shoulders. On all three visible sides these pendants reach down to the top of an upright, scrolling acanthus leaf. The term tapers downwards but curves outward just above the base. The visible edges of the base are set with a half-round fillet carved with flower heads (it is not clear from records whether these fillets were missing at acquisition and have been replaced). Below this the tall feet scroll down, the outer faces of the under-scrolled bases carved with upright acanthus. Between the feet on the front and sides hang pendants of leaves and berries (these certainly missing on acquisition and replaced). The back of the pedestals are undecorated. On this pedestal, the boy's head is turned slightly to his right, a mirror image to its pair W.47-1962. When the pedestals came into the Museum, feathered wings were attached to the boys' shoulders, reaching up to the capital. These were removed in 1964 and are stored with the pedestals.

Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch

This pedestal and its pair (W.47-1962) came to the Museum as part of a large bequest of furniture from the collector Claude Dickason Rotch (1878-1962). See Registered File 61/3157C on Nominal File: Rotch, Claude D, MA/1/R1719/1-4. Rotch had made his fortune as a tea merchant in Ceylon. He was educated at Cambridge where, later, he was, for over thirty years, Honorary Curator of Furniture at the Fitzwilliam Museum. He had a lifetime interest in English furniture and silver, of which he made celebrated collections. When the pedestals came to the Museum, there was no history of their earlier ownership. At that time they had been stripped and painted to imitate mahogany, with small wings attached above each shoulder. The wings were removed and the pedestals were re-gilded by the Museum in 1969. The small flower pendants between the feet were made by the Museum in 1964, to replace lost elements. The current ones were copied from a cast taken from a similar pedestal at that time in the possession of Messrs Mallett, Bond Street, London.

This pedestal and its pair (W.47-1962) relate to Roman terms or boundary posts used in gardens, which showed tapering bodies topped by heads. They are versions of designs of the early seventeenth century for garden terms by the architect Inigo Jones (1573-1652) for the great collector Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646). It may have been one of Inigo Jones' pedestals that was sold by Christie's, London, 10 December 1985, lot 244 (minus its head). They were not identified until after the sale, by John Harris. Jones's terms inspired garden versions designed by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) for his garden at Chiswick, realised by the architect and designer William Kent (1685-1748) in about 1730.

At almost the same time Kent was designing pedestals of similar form for interiors, where they were intended to hold candelabra or vases. They were generally gilded. For Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, Kent designed a set of such pedestals for the Red Saloon and these were supplied by the carver James Richards (1721-1767). For Walpole's brother-in-law Charles, 2nd Viscount Townsend, Kent supplied another version of the design, for the Marble Hall at Raynham Hall, Norfolk. In 1735 Kent designed giltwoodpedestals on hight scrolling feet (closer in design to these ones) for Lady Burlington's Garden Room at Chiswick. These and other related pedestals are illustrated in Susan Weber ‘Kent and the Georgian Baroque Style in Furniture: Domestic Commissions’, in Susan Weber, ed., William Kent, Designing Georgian Britain (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, for the Bard Graduate Center, 2014), pp. 468-525, pedestals discussed pp. 511-513.

A set of pedestals with female busts in place of boys and raised on four tall, scrolling feet similar to those on the V&A pair, was supplied to Hampton Court Palace in 1732-3 by Benjamin Goodison (c.1700-1767), probably to the design of Kent (illustrated in The Dictionary of English Furniture, by Percy Macquoid, revised by Ralph Edwards (London: Country Life, 1954), vol. III, p.159, fig. 1.

This pair is also closer in design to a pair of giltwood pedestals made in about 1735 for Lady Burlington’s Garden Room at Chiswick House, Middlesex, again to a design by William Kent, carved by John Boson (1720-1743). Those pedestals were listed in the inventory of Chiswick in 1770. They were later at Devonshire House, Park Lane, and are now in Chatsworth House, Derbyshire (illustrated by Susan Weber, see above, p.512, fig. 18.63).

A drawing for a term pedestal similar to the version with high, scrolled feet and with scaly sides, but with a man’s head, by the architect and designer John Vardy (1718-1765) is in the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Drawings Collection, now housed in the V&A and was illustrated by Peter Ward-Jackson in English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century (London: HMSO, 1958), plate 41 and notes. That drawing is thought to date from about 1745. Vardy was a junior colleague of William Kent at the Office of Works, which was responsible for royal and public buildings in Britain. Pedestals of this pattern are at Longford Castle.

This pair of pedestals are not of such high quality as those made for Hampton Court or Chiswick and the possibility of later copies must be held in mind.

Two pedestals of the same design were sold from the Walter P. Chrysler collection, Parke-Bernet, New York, 7 May 1960, Lot 526, illustrated p. 125. Those showed wings and swags of laurel linking the front and back corners of the top at either side. They were unsold at auction but bought by a collector who sold them again at Christie's New York, 9 April 2004, lot 250

Four pedestals of related design were sold from Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, by Sotheby's, 8 November 1963, lots 166 and 167. A pair, also similar were sold from teh Hoishcschild Collection by Sotheby's, 1 December 1978, lot 20. A pair from Hinton House were sold by Sotheby's 1 NOvember 1968, lot 61. A painted and grained version was sold by Christie's 20 November 1986, lot 59. A pair of giltwood pedestals were sold from Christie's 13 November 1997, lot 137, the property of the late Lady Bromley-Davenport.

A particularly close pair, in giltwood, were shown at the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair in 1995 by Clifford Wright Antiques Ltd, 104 and 106 Fulham road, London. That pair had the wings, plus swags of laurel joining the back and front corners at either side.

Such stands were made to support candelabra or sculpture. This particular type with cherubs; heads seems to have been a popular model because many pairs are known to have been provided for the great English Palladian country houses. They are usually attributed to Benjamin Goodison, who was the leading suplier of high quality furishings at the time and was closely associated with Kent and John Vardy. However, probably several makers supplied such stands.

Pedestals such as this were intended to hold candelabra or sculpture at the side of a room. This is one of a pair. It is carved and gilded in the opulent style of the designer William Kent, who drew on ancient Roman architectural features, such as the capitals of columns, to create furniture for the Palladian houses of the 1730s and 1740s. This style of pedestal with a cherub's head was a popular model and can be found in many country houses.

The origin of this pair of pedestals is not known. When they were bequeathed to the V&A by Claude Rotch, in 1962, the gilding had been stripped, they had been painted to imitate mahogany, and angels' wings had been attached to the shoulders. The gilding has since been restored, the wings removed, and missing shell shapes replaced between the legs.

On loan to Chiswick House.

W.47A/2,3-1962