WILLIAM WHITE (1825–1900) FOR BISHOPS COURT, SOWTON, DEVON
TWO GOTHIC REVIVAL ARMCHAIRS, CIRCA 1860
£3,250
Hints on Household Taste : Paul Reeves
Auction: 28 June 2022 from 11:00 BST
Description
oak, with velvet upholstery
Dimensions
53.5cm wide, 110.5cm high, 50cm deep; the other 66cm wide, 106.5cm high, 52.5cm deep
Footnote
Provenance: The Bishops Court, Sowton, Devon
Bearnes auctioneers, Exeter, 'The Principal Contents of Bishop's Court’, auction Monday 26th September 1994, Lots 463 and 464
Note: Originally a palace of the medieval bishops of Exeter from the mid-13th century the whole building was remodelled, and the elevations reworked in 1860-4 by William White, for the Garrett family who had purchased it in 1833. The renovation of the house and furnishings in the Gothic Revival style is considered to be White's most important domestic commission. White designed the fittings and much of the furniture, with exceptional attention to detail, specifically for the house of which these chairs formed a part.