| Height | 9 feet high overall (2740 mm) |
| Case | The matching pair of later limestone three-part rectangular pedestals, each with a solid step moulded top with an ovolo nosing over a beaded concave throat, resting on the main square-section base with fielded panel sides, and supported on a solid ovolo/cavetto top-moulded skirting. |
| Dial | The matching pair of finials in two-part lidded urn form of circular cross-section, attributed to the sculptor, John van Nost the Elder (c.1655-c.1711). The multi-piece conjoined elements all superbly detailed and cast in lead, with a separate top-lid. The tops composed of crisp flames above gadrooned balusters, with long-necked, waisted, fluted and splayed lower sections, each resting on a main urn of large convex bulbous form, applied with four finely cast and chased winged cherub heads to the cardinal points, and affixed to a step-graduated circular baluster foot; made up of an inverted gadrooned convex, over a further waisted and fluted splayed bottom section. |
| Provenance | Originally made for Anthony Grey (1645-1702), 11th Earl of Kent, for his gardens at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, Henry Grey (1671-1740), 12th Earl of Kent, created 1st Duke of Kent in 1710, thence by descent to his granddaughter; Jemima Yorke (1723-1797), 2nd Marchioness Grey and Countess of Hardwicke, 4th Baroness Lucas to her daughter; Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey, 5th Baroness Lucas (1751-1833) to her nephew; Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, 6th Baron Lucas (1781- 1859) to his daughter; Lady Ann Florence de Grey, Countess Cowper, 7th Baroness Lucas (1751-1833) to her son; Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper, 8th Baron Lucas (1834-1905) to his nephew; Auberon Thomas Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas and 5th Lord Dingwall (1876-1916), to his sister; Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas (1880-1958), who sold Wrest Park after the death of her brother in 1917 to; JG Murray Esq. who eventually removed much of the garden statuary, including these finials, and thence by descent until sold at; Summer’s Place Auctions, Billingshurst, 19 May 2009, lot 27, for £68,225; John C. Taylor Collection, inventory no.2501 |
| Literature | John Rocque, A Plan & View of the Buildings & Garden at Rest [Wrest] in Bedfordshire, 1737, the finials illustrated flanking the entrance to ‘The Duke’s Square’ garden; Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, revised edition, 1964, p. 279-82; Nicloa Smith, Wrest Park, English Heritage, London, 1995; The Journal of Garden History, 2012, Linda Halpern, ‘The Duke of Kent’s garden at Wrest Park’ |
Exhibit № 27: The Wrest Park Finials. Circa 1700
An exceedingly fine and rare pair of William III cast-lead urn finials, attributed to John van Nost the Elder, and commissioned by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent
£75,000
This very fine and impressive pair of English lead finials with their bold and intricately modelled winged cherub heads, stylistically date to the late 17th, or very early 18th, century. Originating from Wrest Park gardens in Bedfordshire, they are attributed to John van Nost the Elder (c.1655-c.1711), and were probably commissioned by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, prior to his death in 1702.
Their larger components were probably made by sand-casting, while the smaller, more detailed elements were created using the lost-wax process, or cire-perdue, which achieves a crispness of detail seldom found on later works. In this instance, the winged cherub heads and flame terminals are Nost’s crowning achievements; each Putto’s chubby face is wonderfully ‘expressive’ and flanked by delicate feathered wings, while each flame tendril is ‘alive’ and separately accentuated. The following exhibit 28, The Kent Tompion sundial, has an identical provenance to these finials, but also shares the seemingly secure attribution for John van Nost the Elder as the maker of the sundial pedestal.
John van Nost the Elder (c.1655-c.1711) was a native of Mechelen in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium. He is first recorded in England in around 1679, working as studio assistant to his fellow Flemish sculptor, Arnold Quellin (1653-1686), at Windsor Castle under the architect, Hugh May (1621-1684). After Quellin’s death in 1686, van Nost married his widow Frances, the youngest daughter of the Antwerp landscape painter Jan Siberechts (1627-1703). By 1687, John van Nost had established his own sculptural workshops, located in Portugal Street, on the site of what is now 105 Piccadilly, near to Hyde Park Corner. There he manufactured Marble and Leaden figures Busto’s and noble Vases Marble chimneypieces and curious Marble tables. He is now most famous and renowned for his lead garden statuary, such as the current examples made for the 11th Earl of Kent (his bookplate shown left).
The increasing popularity among the gentry for the Grand Tour, exposed them to classical statuary and contemporary sculpture evident in Italy and France. It was similar statuary they wanted for their new gardens, and Van Nost obliged by supplying lead versions of these great works. He made the well-documented figures for Thomas Coke (1674-1727) of Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire, and these included Andromeda, Perseus, a grouping of Amorini, and perhaps one of the most elaborate lead pieces ever made, the celebrated Four Seasons Vase, which was apparently presented to Coke by Queen Anne in 1705. Nost also produced stone sculpture for Hampton Court, Castle Howard, Buckingham House (now Palace) and Chatsworth, and provided marble tables for the Duke of Devonshire. He collaborated with the father of English clock-making, Thomas Tompion FRS (1639–1713), supplying his three surviving sundial pedestals, all carved in Portland stone (see the following exhibit 28, page 188).
John van Nost the Elder apparently died in late 1711, and A CATALOGUE OF Mr. Van NOST’s COLLECTION was produced and Sold by AUCTION… on 17 April 1712 at his late Dwelling House in Hyde-Park-Road (near the Queen’s Mead-house)… this Collection is the most Valuable that ever was Exposed to Sale in this Kingdom.
After his death his cousin, John van Nost II, continued the business and supplying statuary to the 1st Duke of Kent for Wrest gardens, eventually dying in 1729. His son, John van Nost the Younger (d.1780), also continued to work as a sculptor and is noted for his work in Ireland, but John van Nost the Elder is generally considered to be the most important and talented of this artistic dynasty, as testified by this magnificent pair of lead finials.
The gardens at Wrest Park were begun by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, and expanded and continued by his son, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent (so created 1710). Their roots lay in Dutch gardens of the 1690’s and were intended to convey the Grey family’s political support for William and Mary and the Glorious Revolution. Over the years, a number of buildings and features were erected as focal points to the divided areas, including temples, houses, a green house, and the celebrated pavilion by by Thomas Archer (see opposite).
Wrest was one of only four estates that appeared in multiple views in Kip and Knyff’s Britannia Illustrata, 1708. Among contemporary documents that demonstrate Wrest’s high reputation is the record of a garden tour in 1735, in which the gardens were described as undoubtedly some of ye finest in England. Wrest had already been singled out for praise in 1718 in the Ichnographica Rustica of Stephen Switzer, and Mackay included it in his Journey through England in 1724 calling it A very magnificent, noble Seat, with large Parks, Avenues and fine Gardens.
It is not currently known where this monumental pair of finials were initially situated, but by c.1730, both finials were on inscribed stone pedestals dedicated to Henry Grey’s children; his eldest, Anthony Grey, Earl of Harrold, who died from choking on an ear of barley in 1723; and his favourite daughter, Lady Amabel Campbell, who died in 1727. The finials are clearly illustrated in A Plan & View of the Buildings & Garden at Rest [Wrest] in Bedfordshire by John Rocque, and dated 1737, where they are shown on the dedicated pedestals flanking the entrance to The Duke’s Square garden. John Rocque (c.1704-1762) was a surveyor and mapmaker, as well as an engraver. He was involved in gardening as a young man, and lived with his brother Bartholomew, who was himself a landscape gardener. Rocque produced a series of engraved plans of the gardens at Wrest Park (1735 and 1737), Chiswick House (1736) Claremont House (1738), Charles Hamilton’s naturalistic landscape garden at Painshill Park (1744), Wanstead House (1745) and Wilton House (1746).
The Grey family resided at Wrest Park from the 13th century and, as can be seen by the given provenance, from 1702 the house passed down together with the Lucas barony (of Crudwell) that had special remainder through the female line. In 1917, Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas, sold Wrest Park after her brother, the 9th Baron Lucas, had been shot down and killed in action serving with the Royal Flying Corps. The Murray family purchased the house and various items were removed from the gardens before Wrest Park was acquired for the Nation in 1946, including the current finials, and it was their descendant who later consigned them to auction in 2009.
The use of lead statuary blossomed in England during late 17th and 18th centuries and, as with other trades, the skilled artisans congregated in a particular area of London; in the case of statuary, their workshops were gathered around Hyde Park Corner, producing extraordinary statues, chimneypieces and other ornaments for the homes and gardens of the wealthy gentry and landed nobility. The English adoption of French and Dutch garden styles, with their emphasis on parterres and terraces, created a need for large quantities of statuary to ornament these newly laid-out gardens. Prior to this, statuary for the garden was often sculpted laboriously from stone or marble, while casting in lead meant that the same piece could be repeated, and the finished product transported more safely. During the late 17th century, the best London artisans were immigrants from the Continent, particularly the Low Countries, and were schooled in sculptural arts and techniques. Amongst the most accomplished was Arnold Quellin, and his studio assistant, John Van Nost the Elder, who soon became the greatest of this period’s statuary artists and lead workers.
However, the advent of the English landscape movement in the latter part of the 18th century, and its abolition of formal gardens in favour of naturalistic pastoral settings, ornamentation in general was largely abandoned and the demand for statuary fell away. As lead is both valuable and infinitely recyclable, much of the finest English lead statuary was melted down, sometimes for munitions in time of conflict. By the Victorian times, lead had been enjoying something of a renaissance and garden designers such as Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) developed a passion for the patina of lead, particularly when set against lush green foliage … there can scarcely be a doubt that the happiest material for our garden sculpture and ornament is lead.
Product Description
This very fine and impressive pair of English lead finials with their bold and intricately modelled winged cherub heads, stylistically date to the late 17th, or very early 18th, century. Originating from Wrest Park gardens in Bedfordshire, they are attributed to John van Nost the Elder (c.1655-c.1711), and were probably commissioned by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, prior to his death in 1702.
Their larger components were probably made by sand-casting, while the smaller, more detailed elements were created using the lost-wax process, or cire-perdue, which achieves a crispness of detail seldom found on later works. In this instance, the winged cherub heads and flame terminals are Nost’s crowning achievements; each Putto’s chubby face is wonderfully ‘expressive’ and flanked by delicate feathered wings, while each flame tendril is ‘alive’ and separately accentuated. The following exhibit 28, The Kent Tompion sundial, has an identical provenance to these finials, but also shares the seemingly secure attribution for John van Nost the Elder as the maker of the sundial pedestal.
John van Nost the Elder (c.1655-c.1711) was a native of Mechelen in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium. He is first recorded in England in around 1679, working as studio assistant to his fellow Flemish sculptor, Arnold Quellin (1653-1686), at Windsor Castle under the architect, Hugh May (1621-1684). After Quellin’s death in 1686, van Nost married his widow Frances, the youngest daughter of the Antwerp landscape painter Jan Siberechts (1627-1703). By 1687, John van Nost had established his own sculptural workshops, located in Portugal Street, on the site of what is now 105 Piccadilly, near to Hyde Park Corner. There he manufactured Marble and Leaden figures Busto’s and noble Vases Marble chimneypieces and curious Marble tables. He is now most famous and renowned for his lead garden statuary, such as the current examples made for the 11th Earl of Kent (his bookplate shown left).
The increasing popularity among the gentry for the Grand Tour, exposed them to classical statuary and contemporary sculpture evident in Italy and France. It was similar statuary they wanted for their new gardens, and Van Nost obliged by supplying lead versions of these great works. He made the well-documented figures for Thomas Coke (1674-1727) of Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire, and these included Andromeda, Perseus, a grouping of Amorini, and perhaps one of the most elaborate lead pieces ever made, the celebrated Four Seasons Vase, which was apparently presented to Coke by Queen Anne in 1705. Nost also produced stone sculpture for Hampton Court, Castle Howard, Buckingham House (now Palace) and Chatsworth, and provided marble tables for the Duke of Devonshire. He collaborated with the father of English clock-making, Thomas Tompion FRS (1639–1713), supplying his three surviving sundial pedestals, all carved in Portland stone (see the following exhibit 28, page 188).
John van Nost the Elder apparently died in late 1711, and A CATALOGUE OF Mr. Van NOST’s COLLECTION was produced and Sold by AUCTION… on 17 April 1712 at his late Dwelling House in Hyde-Park-Road (near the Queen’s Mead-house)… this Collection is the most Valuable that ever was Exposed to Sale in this Kingdom.
After his death his cousin, John van Nost II, continued the business and supplying statuary to the 1st Duke of Kent for Wrest gardens, eventually dying in 1729. His son, John van Nost the Younger (d.1780), also continued to work as a sculptor and is noted for his work in Ireland, but John van Nost the Elder is generally considered to be the most important and talented of this artistic dynasty, as testified by this magnificent pair of lead finials.
The gardens at Wrest Park were begun by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, and expanded and continued by his son, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent (so created 1710). Their roots lay in Dutch gardens of the 1690’s and were intended to convey the Grey family’s political support for William and Mary and the Glorious Revolution. Over the years, a number of buildings and features were erected as focal points to the divided areas, including temples, houses, a green house, and the celebrated pavilion by by Thomas Archer (see opposite).
Wrest was one of only four estates that appeared in multiple views in Kip and Knyff’s Britannia Illustrata, 1708. Among contemporary documents that demonstrate Wrest’s high reputation is the record of a garden tour in 1735, in which the gardens were described as undoubtedly some of ye finest in England. Wrest had already been singled out for praise in 1718 in the Ichnographica Rustica of Stephen Switzer, and Mackay included it in his Journey through England in 1724 calling it A very magnificent, noble Seat, with large Parks, Avenues and fine Gardens.
It is not currently known where this monumental pair of finials were initially situated, but by c.1730, both finials were on inscribed stone pedestals dedicated to Henry Grey’s children; his eldest, Anthony Grey, Earl of Harrold, who died from choking on an ear of barley in 1723; and his favourite daughter, Lady Amabel Campbell, who died in 1727. The finials are clearly illustrated in A Plan & View of the Buildings & Garden at Rest [Wrest] in Bedfordshire by John Rocque, and dated 1737, where they are shown on the dedicated pedestals flanking the entrance to The Duke’s Square garden. John Rocque (c.1704-1762) was a surveyor and mapmaker, as well as an engraver. He was involved in gardening as a young man, and lived with his brother Bartholomew, who was himself a landscape gardener. Rocque produced a series of engraved plans of the gardens at Wrest Park (1735 and 1737), Chiswick House (1736) Claremont House (1738), Charles Hamilton’s naturalistic landscape garden at Painshill Park (1744), Wanstead House (1745) and Wilton House (1746).
The Grey family resided at Wrest Park from the 13th century and, as can be seen by the given provenance, from 1702 the house passed down together with the Lucas barony (of Crudwell) that had special remainder through the female line. In 1917, Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas, sold Wrest Park after her brother, the 9th Baron Lucas, had been shot down and killed in action serving with the Royal Flying Corps. The Murray family purchased the house and various items were removed from the gardens before Wrest Park was acquired for the Nation in 1946, including the current finials, and it was their descendant who later consigned them to auction in 2009.
The use of lead statuary blossomed in England during late 17th and 18th centuries and, as with other trades, the skilled artisans congregated in a particular area of London; in the case of statuary, their workshops were gathered around Hyde Park Corner, producing extraordinary statues, chimneypieces and other ornaments for the homes and gardens of the wealthy gentry and landed nobility. The English adoption of French and Dutch garden styles, with their emphasis on parterres and terraces, created a need for large quantities of statuary to ornament these newly laid-out gardens. Prior to this, statuary for the garden was often sculpted laboriously from stone or marble, while casting in lead meant that the same piece could be repeated, and the finished product transported more safely. During the late 17th century, the best London artisans were immigrants from the Continent, particularly the Low Countries, and were schooled in sculptural arts and techniques. Amongst the most accomplished was Arnold Quellin, and his studio assistant, John Van Nost the Elder, who soon became the greatest of this period’s statuary artists and lead workers.
However, the advent of the English landscape movement in the latter part of the 18th century, and its abolition of formal gardens in favour of naturalistic pastoral settings, ornamentation in general was largely abandoned and the demand for statuary fell away. As lead is both valuable and infinitely recyclable, much of the finest English lead statuary was melted down, sometimes for munitions in time of conflict. By the Victorian times, lead had been enjoying something of a renaissance and garden designers such as Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) developed a passion for the patina of lead, particularly when set against lush green foliage … there can scarcely be a doubt that the happiest material for our garden sculpture and ornament is lead.
Additional information
| Dimensions | 5827373 cm |
|---|
