An Anglo-Japanese Carved and Red-Lacquered Chimney-piece and Mirrored Overmantel POSSIBLY BY THOMAS JECKYLL (ENGLISH, 1827-1881); CIRCA 1870s
Sold for £3,850 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Home and Interiors specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAn Anglo-Japanese Carved and Red-Lacquered Chimney-piece and Mirrored Overmantel
the shaped mirror within a carved surround of chrysanthemum, surrounded by an outer raised square framing carved with further chrysanthemum blooms, between engraved steel corner and spacing brackets over a lower carved frieze and flanking a pair of carved flower buds; the fire surround with rectangular top and protruding cornice supported by side foliate carved corbels spaced by a further foliate carved panel, all raised on heavy side pillars with robust scroll carved feet (jambs reduced)
height 288cm (113½ in.); width 165cm (65 in.); depth 50cm (19¾ in.)
Footnotes
In her book Thomas Jeckyll Architect and Designer, 1827-1881, Susan Weber Soros obeserves "...Jeckyll's furniture was limited to expensive, one-off pieces that were part of specific interior projects and not intended for batch or multiple production." The problem in firmly attributing work to Jeckyll arises from the absence of specific records documenting most of his domestic furniture designs, the exemptions being: Heath Old Hall for Edward Green (1865-1876):1 Holland Park for Alexander Constantine Ionides (1870-1872) and 49 Prince's Gate in Kensington, notably the famous Peacock Room and his 'collaboration' with Whistler for Frederick Richards Leyland (1875-1876).
The present chimney-piece is an accomplished and successful fusion of Japanese and Chinese decorative elements to a traditionally English form. Although the decorative vocabulary is more whole-heartedly oriental, the scale, and robust carving have at least some of their origins in ancient English furniture traditions, that were also evident in his work for Heath Old Hall. It is tantalising to consider it within a wider decorative ensemble, perhaps originally including a pair of cast brass Sunflower andirons or inset by Barnard, Bishop and Barnards, their lustre picking up the (now remnants of gilding) beneath the pierced fretwork of the mirror frame.
Jeckyll's use, or at least his proposed use of red lacquer is not without precedent. In the course of his correspondence with Edward Green in 1876, Jeckyll suggests a red lacquer finish for a Chinese inspired writing table.
Further Reading;
Susan Weber Soros and Catherine Arbuthnott, Thomas Jeckyll Architect and Designer, 1827-1881, published by The Bard Institute, and Yale University Press, 2003
Mark Girouard, The Victorain Country House, published by Yale University Press, 1971
Thomas Jeckyll, letters and sketches to Edward and Mary Green
Provenance;
Offered by a descendent of Herbert Shorrocks (1883-1964), previously the owner of The Ardwick Roller Skating Rink and The Norbreck Hydro, both in Blackpool, and founder and proprietor of The Shorrocks Palais Royal in Manchester. The Palais Royal opened around 1920 and was designed inside as an Oriental Palace with Chinese and Japanese furnishings bought at auction. The hotel offered regular dances and dance instruction to live music of-the-day. It closed in the late 1950s as victim of a compulsory purchase order for Manchester University. Shorrocks retired to Coed-y-Celyn Hall, a house big enough to hold his collection of Asian Art where he pursued his passions of painting and music.