A PAIR OF BRONZE MODELS OF RECLINING WHIPPETS, 19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF THOMAS WEEKS

A PAIR OF BRONZE MODELS OF RECLINING WHIPPETS
19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF THOMAS WEEKS
Each on a black marble base
4 ¼ in. (11 cm.) high; 7 in. (18 cm.) wide; 3 ½ in. (9 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired from Jeremy Ltd., London.

CHIEVELEY HOUSE, BERKSHIRE: THE PROPERTY OF MR. AND MRS. NICHOLAS STANLEY (LOTS 1 - 99)

If anyone was asked to describe the perfect English manor house I am sure they would conjure up a house that looks almost exactly like Chieveley House, a perfectly proportioned Queen Anne house of soft red brick, set back in the village behind a wall, gentle, content and peaceful in its quiet, elegant dignity. In its three hundred year history – a rainwater header is dated 1716 – it has seen many owners, from its original household ‘of a gentleman, his four children and six servants’ to the three beautiful Wyndham-Quin sisters who were brought up there in the 1920s, but Chieveley has been particularly fortunate in its owners in the last decade, Nicholas and Elodie Stanley, who have devoted their considerable taste and energy to creating a magical and charming home for their family and friends.

They have a brilliant skill at combining comfort and elegance, interest and charm, all articulated with apparently efortless ease – these are rooms you definitely want to sit in! Working with John McCall Chieveley was the third house they had created together, so there was complete understanding, old established favourites were reinterpreted, new ideas tried and the collections of paintings and furniture found new positions. Some interesting pieces had been inherited from a family home in Ireland, near Cork, and these had been added to over the years, always with a keen eye and following patterns of interest (Lots 11, 41, 52 & 54). So Anglo-Chinese furniture became a particular enthusiasm, and a remarkable group of this rare furniture was assembled, acquired mainly from Spinks or Jeremy, executed in rich and exotic timbers, padouk and rosewood (Lots 74–81). Venice has a very special place in their affections, so that is a leitmotif, architectural books are another, and linked to them architectural models.

All these threads were woven together to create rooms that were the epitome of style and comfort, the book-lined double-height library in the former barn that was joined to the house in 1883, and the drawing room with fve windows looking out onto the spectacular garden created over seven years with the help and advice of Arne Maynard, with a series of ‘rooms’ and a Chinese octagonal pavilion designed by Francis Johnson. As these works of art go on their journey they will take something of their happy sojourn at Chieveley, with its atmosphere of warm serenity, subtle and intelligent comfort and great taste.

Charles Cator
Deputy Chairman, Christie’s International
February 2020

To have worked as Interior Designer on three superb houses for the same client over a thirty year period, some find remarkable. I don’t in the least. I remember fondly the ease with which schemes and plans for these three homes came together, relying on a good collection of furniture, pictures and objets that my clients had collected or recently inherited. It helped that we all spoke the same aesthetic language. “Let’s use all the blue and white in the Dining room”. “How about a big tapestry along that wall ?”. “Perhaps Venetian maps up the stairs”. We all knew what each other was talking about. This saved a lot of time and added to the success of Stanley Crescent, our first project together, in London’s Notting Hill.

However, if a piece didn’t work, I clearly remember my client dryly commenting on occasion “I think we can do better”. So, the hunt would be on for something more interesting to fill a particular gap. This same approach worked equally well on our next two projects, a gem of a house in the Circus in Bath and a fine Queen Anne house at Chieveley, just an hour from London. I will in some ways be sad to see old ‘friends’ sold but I know there is another house already being planned with a different mood and feel, so the hunt will be on again for some more treasures.

John McCall
Interior Designer
February 2020