Lot 90
CHARLES BEVAN (C.1815-1891) FOR MARSH & JONES, LEEDS
PAIR OF GOTHIC REVIVAL CHAIRS, CIRCA 1865
Auction: Design Since 1860 Day One | Wed 14th October | Lots 1 to 245
Description
satinwood, inlaid specimen woods, felt upholstery (2)
Dimensions
40cm wide, 86cm high, 39cm deep
Provenance
Provenance: Baildon Lodge 1865-73
Milner Field until 1903 (now demolished)
Denton Hall, near Ilkley until 1911
The Old Rectory at Thorp Arch near Boston Spa
Unknown address in Harrogate until 1930
Rotterdam antique trade, The Netherlands 2021
Paul Shutler
Private Collection
Footnote
Literature: Gilbert C. Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Volume II, 1978.
Boynton L.O.J. High Victorian Furniture: The Example of Marsh and Jones of Leeds Furniture History Society, Journal III, 1967 where a transcribed copy of the Titus Salt order dated 8th August 1866 is seen in Appendix II (the rooms described are those at Baildon Lodge and not Milner Field.)
Note: Titus Salt Jr., youngest son of Sir Titus Salt, married Catherine Crossley in 1866 and moved to Baildon Lodge near Bradford. Between 1865 and 1867 the couple commissioned local firm Marsh & Jones to furnish their home, from a grand piano to domestic wares. Marsh & Jones employed Charles Bevan, whose designs in the reformed Gothic style, alongside Bruce Talbert’s contemporary ‘medieval’ furniture, are regarded as marking an important turning point in British taste.
Between 1871 and 1873 the Salts moved to their new country house, Milner Field, taking the contents of Baildon Lodge with them. Designed by Thomas Harris, the house incorporated furniture and panelling by Marsh & Jones, ornamental metalwork by Richardson, Slade & Co., and stained glass and decorative schemes by Saunders & Co. and Frederick Weekes.
The present chairs form part of the music room suite associated with Catherine Salt, an accomplished musician and singer. Their distinctive A-frame backs correspond closely with the music cabinet and piano music stand from the same commission. The surviving duet stool at Lotherton Hall retains the maker's label, inscribed with job number 99127, placing the commission within a sequence of documented Salt furnishings.
