Lot 173 THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
A PAIR OF GEORGE IV BRASS-INLAID SIMULATED ROSEWOOD AND ROSEWOOD BERGERES
CIRCA 1825
Closed29 April 2010
Price Realised
GBP 23,750
More Information
Specialist note
These handsome library armchairs reflect the Regency fashion for both brass-inlay and graining in imitation of more costly, rare and exotic woods, the latter process described in M. Nicholson, New Practical Builder and Workman's Companion, 1824, p.417.
They were almost certainly supplied to Angela Burdett-Coutts, granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, founder in 1778 of the bank Coutts & Co for his Piccadilly Mansion, 1 Stratton Street, whose property she had inherited upon his death in 1822.
Born Angela Georgina Burdett, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, and Sophia Coutts, she became in 1837 the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune of nearly three million pounds via his wife Harriott Mellon. As well as the Stratton Street property, she inherited The Holly Lodge at Highgate, and was a significant collector of works of art. She became one of the most celebrated philanthropists of the era, in recognition of which she was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, and after her death at Stratton Street in 1906, was buried in Westminster Abbey.
They were almost certainly supplied to Angela Burdett-Coutts, granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, founder in 1778 of the bank Coutts & Co for his Piccadilly Mansion, 1 Stratton Street, whose property she had inherited upon his death in 1822.
Born Angela Georgina Burdett, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, and Sophia Coutts, she became in 1837 the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune of nearly three million pounds via his wife Harriott Mellon. As well as the Stratton Street property, she inherited The Holly Lodge at Highgate, and was a significant collector of works of art. She became one of the most celebrated philanthropists of the era, in recognition of which she was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, and after her death at Stratton Street in 1906, was buried in Westminster Abbey.