Images(7)

Settee

DateCa. 1730

Possibly by Giles Grendey

OriginEngland, London

MediumPrimary: Walnut. Secondary: Beech interior framing beneath seat.

DimensionsOH: 41", H. to seat: 18 1/2", OW(seat): 56 1/2", OD(seat): 25 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1964-461

DescriptionUpholstered, rectangular back settee with vertically rolled, stuffed arms; rectangular stuffed seat upholstered partially over seat rails; narrow, veneered seat rail, plain on sides with a pair of applied female masks centered in a pair of winged cartouches with molded edges on either side of middle front legs; three cabriole front legs, each with scrolled, molded shoulders on either side of knee carved with large shell and two pendant bellflowers; legs terminate in knuckly claw and ball feet; three cabriole rear legs terminating in high pad feet.
Label TextThis elegantly upholstered settee, or small sofa, illustrates the robust carving found on London furniture from the second quarter of the 18th century. While the shells on the knees and the ball and claw feet were popular in many English shops, the carved heads on the seat rail are of a type associated with the work of Giles Grendey. Grendey owned a large cabinet shop in London during the first half of the 18th century that produced fashionable furniture for elite customers in England as well as Continental Europe. Chairs, stools, and settees with carved heads of this type, possibly representing the Roman goddess Juno, as well as those of satyrs, ancient Roman spirits depicted by men with goats ears, horns, tail, and legs, have been linked to Grendey’s shop. The appearance of these faces or masks on furniture was likely inspired by the ancient Roman art and architecture that influenced England’s 18th century Neo-Palladian architecture and associated decorative arts.
MarkingsNone found.
ProvenanceSettee purchased by Stair and Co., as agent for Colonial Williamsburg, at the auction of the estate of the late Florence Bates Carter and others at Parke Bernet Galleries in New York held on October 16 and 17, 1964.