George II Scarlet Japanned Kneehole Chest
Attributed to Giles Grendey (1693-1780)
ENGLAND, circa 1730
ENGLAND, circa 1730
28 1/2 x 32 5/8 x 20 5/8 in
72.5 x 83 x 52.5 cm
72.5 x 83 x 52.5 cm
6573
Provenance
Supplied to the Marqueses de Superunda for the Palacio de La Guardia en Álava, and thence by descent.
Decorated overall with elaborate Chinoiserie figures and foliage, the moulded edge top above one long drawer and an arrangement of six graduated short drawers centred by a kneehole with cupboard...
Decorated overall with elaborate Chinoiserie figures and foliage, the moulded edge top above one long drawer and an arrangement of six graduated short drawers centred by a kneehole with cupboard and arched ‘secret’ drawer above. The whole raised on shaped bracket feet, the painted brass handles and escutcheons original.
José Antonio Manso de Velasco, 1st Count of Superunda (born Torrecilla en Cameros in 1688 – died in Priego de Córdoba in 1767): Don José Antonio Manso de Velasco was a Spanish soldier and politician who served as Governor of Chile between November 1737 and June 1744; and Viceroy of Peru between 1745 and 1761. Manso de Velasco was awarded the title of ‘Conde de Superunda’ – ‘Superunda’ meaning ‘over the waves’ – for his efforts in the reconstruction of Lima and Callao after the earthquake and tsunami of October 1746. He is reputed to have furnished the Palacio de La Guardia in the province of Álava in Spain with a large suite of red lacquer furniture, from which this desk may descend. The painting below of the Manso de Velasco shows the reconstruction of Lima cathedral in the background.
Giles Grendey supplied furniture to the Juan de Dios de Silva y Mendoza y Haro, the 10th Duke of the Infantado (13 November 1672 – 9 December 1737) for Lazcano Castle in Spain. The Infantados were head of the Mendoza family, a powerful line of Spanish nobles with considerable power, who originated from the town of Mendoza – also in the province of Álava, which is where the Marqueses de Superunda’s Palacio de La Guardia was located. Both Lazcano Castle and La Guardia are in the Basque Country, in Northern Spain.
Giles Grendey (1693–1780): Giles Grendey was born in Gloucestershire in 1693 and, in 1708/9 he was apprenticed to William Sherborne in London. Grendey completed his apprenticeship in 1716 and became a freeman. By 1726 he was taking on his own apprentices and was recognised as the most accomplished English cabinetmaker incorporating ‘japanned’ decoration.
Grendey’s workshop was in Aylesbury House, St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell from where he carried on a considerable export trade. He labelled some of his products and one of his surviving labels advertised that he: ‘MAKES and Sells all Sorts of CABINET GOODS, Chairs, Tables, Glasses, etc.’. Newspaper accounts from 1731 indicate the status which Grendey had achieved, as it was recorded that, early in the morning on 3rd August 1731, his workshop had a fire, which destroyed furniture to the value of £1,000 which he: ‘had pack’d for Exportation against the next morning’. Fortunately, both his premises and his stock were insured, but this record underlines the importance of the export market for his business: notably in Spain; in Italy (for the King of Naples); and in Portugal.
Grendey was appointed Upper Warden of the Joiners’ Company in 1747 and its Master in 1766. During his career, Grendey supplied furniture to: Richard Hoare of Barn Elms; Sir Jacob de Bouverie of Longford Castle; Lord Scarsdale at Kedleston Hall; and Henry Hoare at Stourhead. In 1755 Grendey’s daughter, Sukey, married John Cobb, a cabinet maker who partnered with William Vile and was granted a court appointment as cabinet-maker to George III. On his wife’s death in 1740, Grendey was described as: ‘a great Dealer in the Cabinet Way’ (see ‘London Evening Post’, 9 August 1790).
Grendey’s most celebrated export order was for the suite of items of furniture with scarlet japanning which were supplied to Juan de Dios de Silva y Mendoza y Haro, the 10th Duke of the Infantado for his castle at Lazcano. He was one of the wealthiest men of his time. The exotic Chinese red decoration of this desk relates it closely to the celebrated Lazcano Suite of furniture, consisting of at least seventy-seven pieces of furniture commissioned from Giles Grendey, making it the largest recorded suite of 18th century English furniture. A large number of items from this suite are now in important international collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.
The exotic Chinese red decoration on this kneehole desk resembles that of the George II Scarlet and Gilt-japanned Secretaire Cabinet, also attributed to Giles Grendey, which was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by Thomas Coulborn & Sons.
The decoration on this desk also relates closely to a labelled green-japanned and gilt bureau cabinet by John Belchier illustrated in Ambrose Heal’s ‘The London Furniture Makers: from the Restoration to the Victorian Era 1660-1840’ (B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1953), p.236, figures 18 and 19; and reproduced in Christopher Gilbert’s ‘Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840’ (Furniture History Society, W.S. Maney and Son Ltd, 1996) p.82, plate 57). The similarities are so strong as to suggest there may have been collaboration between the two cabinet makers, or, at the very least, some crossover between the craftsmen working for them.
José Antonio Manso de Velasco, 1st Count of Superunda (born Torrecilla en Cameros in 1688 – died in Priego de Córdoba in 1767): Don José Antonio Manso de Velasco was a Spanish soldier and politician who served as Governor of Chile between November 1737 and June 1744; and Viceroy of Peru between 1745 and 1761. Manso de Velasco was awarded the title of ‘Conde de Superunda’ – ‘Superunda’ meaning ‘over the waves’ – for his efforts in the reconstruction of Lima and Callao after the earthquake and tsunami of October 1746. He is reputed to have furnished the Palacio de La Guardia in the province of Álava in Spain with a large suite of red lacquer furniture, from which this desk may descend. The painting below of the Manso de Velasco shows the reconstruction of Lima cathedral in the background.
Giles Grendey supplied furniture to the Juan de Dios de Silva y Mendoza y Haro, the 10th Duke of the Infantado (13 November 1672 – 9 December 1737) for Lazcano Castle in Spain. The Infantados were head of the Mendoza family, a powerful line of Spanish nobles with considerable power, who originated from the town of Mendoza – also in the province of Álava, which is where the Marqueses de Superunda’s Palacio de La Guardia was located. Both Lazcano Castle and La Guardia are in the Basque Country, in Northern Spain.
Giles Grendey (1693–1780): Giles Grendey was born in Gloucestershire in 1693 and, in 1708/9 he was apprenticed to William Sherborne in London. Grendey completed his apprenticeship in 1716 and became a freeman. By 1726 he was taking on his own apprentices and was recognised as the most accomplished English cabinetmaker incorporating ‘japanned’ decoration.
Grendey’s workshop was in Aylesbury House, St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell from where he carried on a considerable export trade. He labelled some of his products and one of his surviving labels advertised that he: ‘MAKES and Sells all Sorts of CABINET GOODS, Chairs, Tables, Glasses, etc.’. Newspaper accounts from 1731 indicate the status which Grendey had achieved, as it was recorded that, early in the morning on 3rd August 1731, his workshop had a fire, which destroyed furniture to the value of £1,000 which he: ‘had pack’d for Exportation against the next morning’. Fortunately, both his premises and his stock were insured, but this record underlines the importance of the export market for his business: notably in Spain; in Italy (for the King of Naples); and in Portugal.
Grendey was appointed Upper Warden of the Joiners’ Company in 1747 and its Master in 1766. During his career, Grendey supplied furniture to: Richard Hoare of Barn Elms; Sir Jacob de Bouverie of Longford Castle; Lord Scarsdale at Kedleston Hall; and Henry Hoare at Stourhead. In 1755 Grendey’s daughter, Sukey, married John Cobb, a cabinet maker who partnered with William Vile and was granted a court appointment as cabinet-maker to George III. On his wife’s death in 1740, Grendey was described as: ‘a great Dealer in the Cabinet Way’ (see ‘London Evening Post’, 9 August 1790).
Grendey’s most celebrated export order was for the suite of items of furniture with scarlet japanning which were supplied to Juan de Dios de Silva y Mendoza y Haro, the 10th Duke of the Infantado for his castle at Lazcano. He was one of the wealthiest men of his time. The exotic Chinese red decoration of this desk relates it closely to the celebrated Lazcano Suite of furniture, consisting of at least seventy-seven pieces of furniture commissioned from Giles Grendey, making it the largest recorded suite of 18th century English furniture. A large number of items from this suite are now in important international collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.
The exotic Chinese red decoration on this kneehole desk resembles that of the George II Scarlet and Gilt-japanned Secretaire Cabinet, also attributed to Giles Grendey, which was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by Thomas Coulborn & Sons.
The decoration on this desk also relates closely to a labelled green-japanned and gilt bureau cabinet by John Belchier illustrated in Ambrose Heal’s ‘The London Furniture Makers: from the Restoration to the Victorian Era 1660-1840’ (B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1953), p.236, figures 18 and 19; and reproduced in Christopher Gilbert’s ‘Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840’ (Furniture History Society, W.S. Maney and Son Ltd, 1996) p.82, plate 57). The similarities are so strong as to suggest there may have been collaboration between the two cabinet makers, or, at the very least, some crossover between the craftsmen working for them.