An exceptionally fine pair of walnut framed early 18th century style needlework wall sconces, English
An exceptionally fine pair of walnut framed early 18th century style needlework wall sconces, English
2920
Each arched top and bottom fine gros and petit-point needlework panel designed with a courting couple, within a landscape of flowers and buildings, a dog at their feet, in a bolection-moulded walnut-veneered surround, fitted with a pair of brass candle branches, each with a dished drip-pan and a lipped candle socket.
For two very similar examples dated to Queen Anne, formerly in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, see The Metropolitan Museum Collection, New York, accession numbers: 64.101.1016 and 64.101.1017.
See Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740 (2009), p. 279, p. 6:24, for another comparable period pair. The author notes that 'Sconces with needlework or other cloth backing, seem at first improbable, because the non-reflective backs offer no benefit in terms of light, and would be vulnerable to candle grease, soot or even fire'. Nonetheless, the 1725 inventory of John Evendon, a London joiner and picture dealer, records 'a pair of workt (embroidered) Sconces' in his 'fore chamber' or parlour (CLRO, Orphans' Court Records Roll 3208).
64.101.1016
Dimensions: