Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA)

Case 23 (2016-17): a set of English gilt bronze, painted, wrought and cast iron railings

MEETS WAVERLEY CRITERIA TWO AND THREE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 Brief description and recent history of items

Two sets of railings, each of three sections, made of wrought and cast iron, painted black, with gilt iron and gilt bronze decoration. Each set comprises a central section with interlaced Cs encircled by the Garter Ribband suspended from a bearded gilt bronze mask, flanked by acanthus scrolls and floral swags; and two flanking sections of railing with gilt rosettes at mid-height between spiked-topped upright rods, and framed at each end by more ornate upright sections with gilt urns at the highest points above gilt bronze lion masks beneath. The railings were made in 1720s by Jean Montigny (1721-1725) and modified in 1740s. They were further modified and restored 1989-92 to good condition.

Each section = 236cm high, 230cm wide and 45cm deep, including supporting plinths. See Figures 1a, 1b, 1c, and 2

2. Provenance

(1) The railings were supplied by Jean Montigny for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1673-1744) for Cannons, , in the 1720s; they were sold at Cannons House 16 June 1747 (following the Duke’s bankruptcy in 1744), when they were acquired by Isaac Ware, architect for Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773) for Chesterfield House, London, for which they were modified in the late 1740s.

(2) Railings acquired in situ with Chesterfield House by Charles Magniac (1827-1891) and on his death by Sir Michael Arthur Bass, 1st Baron Burton (1837-1909); thence by descent until sold in situ to Henry George Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood (1882- 1947) in 1922; moved to Harewood House, Yorkshire, by the 6th Earl upon the demolition of Chesterfield House in 1937; thence by descent with the Earls of Harewood until sold, Harewood House, Christie’s, 3rd October 1988, lot 104.

(3) Acquired at Christie’s by Alan Rubin; modified, restored and submitted in two lots for sale at Sotheby’s, London, 6th July 2016. Lot 17 was sold at £185,000 (estimate £150- 200,000). Lot 18 was unsold and brought in (estimate £150,000-200,000)

3 Waverley Criteria

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The railings are amongst the most lavish examples in Britain and are important for the study of the history of ironwork. They illustrate an integral aspect of British eighteenth-century architectural patronage and the role of ironwork in communicating social status. Designating the perimeter of the central residence, the Chesterfield House railings were intended to impress on arrival and to be viewed by the patron and his guests from within the front ground floor reception rooms (Figure 3). Their design and execution is of outstanding quality and of outstanding aesthetic significance.

DETAILED CASE

1 The objects and their historical and artistic context

Relatively little is known of the work of Jean Montigny, a French Catholic immigrant smith who specialised in wrought iron who is first recorded in London in 1705. He was a younger associate of Jean Tijou, the distinguished designer and gatesmith from St Germain, France, who is recorded in London by 1687 and worked for the royal palaces, courtier houses and new ecclesiastical buildings. Montigny was associated with Tijou from 1708, when they jointly supplied a gate for Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk. Like Tijou, Montigny was abreast of the latest French engraved designs for ornament and master of the most sophisticated metalworking techniques which set new standards.

Montigny worked in association with architects and John Price for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1673-1744) at Cannons, Edgware and received two payments from that patron between 1721 and 1726 totalling £540. ‘Fine Wrought Iron Gates’ were listed in the Cannons sale catalogue of 1747 when the great house was demolished after that Duke’s death. Besides the documented patronage of Lord Chandos and Lord Chesterfield, Montigny is credited with gates associated with Devonshire House, London, which were acquired second-hand from Lord Heathfield’s house in Turnham Green after it was demolished in 1837 (Figure 4). Now situated on the North side of Green Park, their bronze masks and swirling foliage provide a good comparison with the Chesterfield House railings, although the Devonshire coat-of-arms are a later addition.

Jean Tijou, hitherto the most important designer and producer of ironwork in Britain, had raised the standard of production in London by 1700. He published his earlier designs in London as ‘A New Booke of Drawings’, 1693. Tijou’s ironwork at Chatsworth, Derbyshire (supplied with assistance from Montigny), and particularly Tijou’s celebrated external Thames-side screen of partially gilded ironwork panels at Hampton Court Palace, bear witness to his extraordinary skill. The Hampton Court screen panels, featuring central rose, harp and thistle emblems representing , Ireland and Scotland, and distinctive mask heads, are technically comparable to the Chesterfield House railings, they are double sided; there are broad stylistic similarities. The Chesterfield House railings were strongly influenced by Tijou’s technique. They demonstrate the spectacular effect of ironwork highlighted with gilding and applied gilt-bronze decoration, and its role in enhancing the architectural impact of both exterior and interior of a great London or country house, royal palace, cathedral or parish church.

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1.1 James Brydges, 1st Duke Chandos and Cannons House, Edgware

In 1703 James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos secured an appointment as a commissioner to the Admiralty. In 1705, thanks to the influence of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Brydges was made paymaster of Queen Anne's forces, from which he made £600,000 profit when he resigned in 1713. This was a substantial sum even at a time when public office was regarded as a legitimate source of profit.

In 1712, after the death of his first wife, Chandos purchased her family estate at Cannons. Here he built what came to be regarded as the best house of its day in England. Designed by leading architects the finest craftsmen were employed to create the magnificent marble staircase, library, picture gallery, and chapel decorated in Baroque style where a choir and orchestra under Dr Pepusch performed anthems specially composed by Handel. Ducal hospitality was liberal and Cannons was rarely without guests who enjoyed meals accompanied by music, and the well laid out grounds guarded by Chelsea pensioners. The poet was one of the few people who remained unimpressed, condemning ‘Timon's Villa’ as the epitome of tastelessness and misspent wealth.

1.2 Lord Chesterfield and Chesterfield House, London

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield spent his childhood at Bretby, Derbyshire but was educated in London by M. Jouneau, Huguenot minister in Soho. Chesterfield thrived on the stimulus of city life. In 1726 he was appointed British Ambassador to The Hague, and on his return served in opposition to Sir Robert Walpole. He was Viceroy of Ireland in 1745 and Secretary of State for the Northern Department but resigned from public office in 1749. In 1747 he wrote to Madame de Monconseil ‘congenial society is the greatest joy in life, and it can only be found in capitals. It is on this principle that I am at present in the process of ruining myself by building a fine house here, which will be finished in the French style with abundance of sculptures and gilding.’

Of all the great London mansions demolished in the 20th century, the loss of Chesterfield House in 1937, with its sophisticated French interiors, is most keenly felt, despite the modifications of later owner Charles Magniac who demolished the service wings and developed the grounds to the East as Chesterfield Gardens. Its destruction acted as a catalyst for the foundation of The Georgian Group which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2017. The two full lengths of railings extended to either side of the entrance to the main house (Figure 3). Its architect Isaac Ware described the house in A Complete Body of Architecture, 1756, as ‘a town-house of the greatest elegance built for a nobleman of the most distinguished taste, and adorned at the greatest expense.’

In fact Chesterfield House was originally situated in open country north of the site of the annual May Fair and surrounded by fields stretching up towards Tyburn. The West facing house and its service wings; stables on the North and kitchens, larders, pantry, scullery and warehouse on the South were enclosed by a great court, 177 foot in length and 94 feet in breadth, with a high wall with great gates directly opposite the main entrance. These service wings were masked by colonnades (obtained from the Cannons sale) which Chesterfield

3 referred to as his ‘Canonical columns….so fine that to keep my house in countenance I am obliged to dress the windows of the front with stone, those of the middle floor too with Pediments and Balustrades’. Over the main entrance to the house an elaborate cartouche contained Chesterfield’s coat of arms. Chesterfield House was within sight of St George’s Hospital converted by Isaac Ware in 1732 from Viscount Lanesborough’s mansion at Hyde Park Corner.

Inside Chesterfield House, the marble entrance hall boasted an arcade of Corinthian columns and a double flight marble staircase with wide marble treads. Chesterfield wrote ‘The staircase particularly will form such a scene as is not in England. The expense will ruin me but the enjoyment will please me’ (letter to Bristowe December 1747). His contemporary George Vertue noted that each step was made out of ‘an entire block of marble 20 feet in length.’

Although the marble for the staircase came from the demolished Cannons it is believed that the lavish staircase balustrade, originally painted blue and gilded, was created by Montigny for the new house; its design with its interlaced Cs relates closely to the exterior railings, to which the Ribband of the Order of the Garter flanked by palm fronds was added (Lord Chesterfield was made a Knight of the Garter in 1736). The staircase balustrade later adorned the Odeon Cinema, Southend, bombed during World War II. What was salvaged was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where the central landing balustrade has recently been conserved for future display above the statuary marble caryatid chimney-piece from Chesterfield House (attributed to Rysbrack) in the new British Galleries which open in 2019 (Figure 5).

Building began in 1746 but it was 1752 before Chesterfield House was opened for admiration – Horace Walpole described ‘an immense assembly to show the house which is really most magnificent’. On that evening the Duke of Hamilton met the beautiful Miss Elizabeth Gunning and they married two days later at the Mayfair Chapel.

Lord Chesterfield’s hospitality was legendary; his dinners were served in fashionable silver supplied by leading second generation Huguenot goldsmiths Paul Crespin and Paul de Lamerie to designs by his French cook Vincent La Chapelle (silver tureens and wine coolers are preserved today in the V&A, National Museum of Scotland, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Virginia Museum of Art).

Despite the Neo-Palladian exterior of the house, the decorative style of the interior reflected the purpose of each room. Above the Library bookcases stucco frames bordered portraits of literary heroes, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Sidney, Spencer, Milton, Addison and Pope (now in the collection of the University of London). The frames were painted white ‘for I have determined to have no gilding at all’, despite the need to repaint every four or five years caused by the blackening effect of the open fire and candles. In contrast the Boudoir à la française with its Giallo da Sienna marble chimneypiece, blue ceiling and portrait by Rosalba, was in keeping with the French style of the Drawing Room, Ante Room and Music Room.

2 Rarity of the pieces and significance for study

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The production of wrought iron in Britain achieved new levels of sophistication with the arrival of Jean Tijou. Montigny worked with Tijou and succeeded to his workshop. Ironwork supplied by Tijou preserved at Chatsworth, Drayton, Hampton Court, St Paul’s and a number of London churches, has been published by J. Starkie Gardner and others. Gatesmiths inspired by the work of Tijou and Montigny include William and Simon Edney of Bristol (working 1694-1716), the Paris family of Warwick (working 1684-1736), Robert and John Davies of North Wales (working 1716-1732) and Robert Bakewell (working 1713-1736) in Derbyshire.

Starkie Gardner described the Chesterfield House staircase balustrade as ‘perhaps the most magnificent in England’. Similarly the exterior railings with extensive gilt bronze as well as iron decoration, are astonishingly grand. The principal mounts, human and lions’ masks, husks, most of the rosettes, the lambrequins and interlaced Cs are applied to the cast iron framework in gilt bronze.

The railings are of national importance and have particular interest as their designer and maker Montigny is of French birth and training. The association with Cannons has been questioned but the connection with Chesterfield House is indisputable. The railings present an important source for the study of British patronage of the highest quality ironwork, as well as of metalwork design and decorative techniques and subsequent structural and decorative modifications.

3. The restoration of the railings, 1989-92

After almost two hundred years outside, and fifty years in storage, the railings were modified and restored when they were with the dealer Alan Rubin. Work on one set was carried out at Welbeck, Nottinghamshire by David Beaumont and his associate Frank. One main panel and two flanking panels were restored by 1989, the second set (Lot 18 Rubin thinks) by 1992.

Two of the narrower sections of the plainer railings were used to repair restored sections; replacing rosettes and lion masks in the stanchions. Alan Rubin has retained an original 1720s mask which was illustrated on the cover of his catalogue of 1989 (Figure 6), so one mask is a late 20th century replacement.

Alan Rubin has clarified that the railings, when acquired from Harewood, consisted of the two principal panels and four wide standard panels but also parts of the narrower panels and 12 stanchions [the whole ensemble as it would have been set up originally shown in Figure 7 – a drawing commissioned at the time]. He recalled that the smaller sections were not complete and were in pieces along with small elements from the external staircase ramp. Figure 8 shows that the lantern standards later flanked the entrance staircase at Harewood.

In order to make the railings manageable for transport and display Alan attached a pair of stanchions (including the pair from the stair-ramp) to each main section which is how they

5 appear today. The smaller broken sections were used to replace missing or damaged decorative elements in the larger panels. There was hardly any spare material left once the restoration of the six panels had been completed. Alan Rubin confirmed that if he had been asked to complete the entire run for a potential client he would have had to reproduce almost all of the original narrower sections as what was left was almost beyond repair. All of the materials in the railings today date from the Chesterfield installation of the late 1740s, with the sole exception of the replacement mask, the original of which was retained by Alan in order to show the original surface, which he thinks is part of the first incarnation of the railings and probably dates from the 1720s.

Alan Rubin believes that the essential modification of the Cannons railings for Lord Chesterfield consisted of the introduction of the Garter Ribband around the original interlaced Cs and the surrounding palm fronds. The Rococo lambrequin replaced an earlier Baroque version which was probably attached to a Marot-design cartouche around the interlaced Cs later sacrificed in order to add the Garter Ribband .

The railings were examined by the expert advisers on 15 December 2016. The two lots were found to differ in decorative elements. Observations included that: Lot 17 has more ferrous rosettes than Lot 18 on which they are non-ferrous; parts of Lot 17 have been extensively restored with complete overpainting of the gilded components and various fills along joints; the vase finials on Lot 17 have flash lines from where the two parts of the mould met, indicating a lesser degree of finishing; parts of lot 17 have been extensively restored with overpainting of the ‘gilded’ components and fills along joins of various parts resulting in technical features being more concealed; parts of lot 18 do also show evidence of dismantling and rivets have likely been replaced (red painted and bare metal is visible in the space between the two masks) and were concealed by leaf gilding; the masks on lot 18 (front and reverse) differ slightly from lot 17 (front and reverse) with the edges curving more forward on lot 18; finally the mask on the front of lot 18 is a better quality casting (the eyebrows also have more plasticity), the reverse one having more casting porosity.

References

Sotheby’s catalogue record, ‘Treasures’, London, 6 July 2016, lot 17 & 18 and in particular: G Jackson Stops, ‘ Ironwork – II’, Country Life, 4 February 1971 and John Harris and Alan Rubin. ‘Lord Chesterfield’s Railings’ Pelham Galleries, London, 1989

Also: ‘Montigny, Jean (d.1757)’, in Edward Saunders ed., ‘Biographical Dictionary of English Wrought Iron Smiths of the 17th and 18th centuries’, The Walpole Society, LXVII, 2005, pp. 237-385, pp.314-319 Susan Jenkins, ‘An Inventory of His Grace the Duke of Chandos’ seat at Cannons taken June the 19th 1725 by John Gilbert’, in The Walpole Society, LXVII, 2005, pp. 93-192

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Susan Jenkins, Portrait of a Patron: The Patronage and Collecting of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1674-1744), 2007 H.Avray Tipping, Chesterfield House, Country Life 25 February 1922 Lord Mahon, ed. The Letters of Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, London 1845-53, 5 vols David Pearce, London Mansions, The Palatial Houses of the Nobility, 1986, pp.70-75 Christopher Simon Sykes, Private Palaces: Life in the Great London Houses, 1985, pp. 114- 128 J.Starkie Gardner, English Ironwork of the 17th and 18th centuries, 1911 J.Starkie Gardner, Ironwork (Part III, Great Britain), 1922 John Harris, English Decorative Ironwork 1610-1836, plates 6-25 reproduce plates from Jean Tijou’s A new Book of Drawings (1693)

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