Page 52 - Pierre Durand Collection Including Chinese Art and Porcelain Sothebys Jan 27 2022

Hamilton Palace

■61 Hamilton Palace
AN ITALIAN GILTWOOD SIDE TABLE
The table is almost certainly one of a pair sold in The Hamilton Palace Collection auction
PROBABLY FLORENCE, CIRCA 1740
catalogue as lots 670 and 671 (Christie’s London, 17 June-20 July 1882). The tables, which
With a later green marble top above a pierced, carved frieze
have corresponding dimensions are described as ‘A Venetian Pier-Table’ (lot 670) and ‘The
with scrolling foliate swags and floral garlands, supported
Companion Table’ (lot 671). The priced catalogue records that both tables were purchased
on mythical winged beasts resting on scrolling bracket legs,
by an unidentified ‘C.J. Ross’ for a total of £100 and 16s.
joined by a stretcher centered with a bowl of fruit, with two
green stamped French & Co. numbers '53299'
34 in. (86.5 cm.) high, 65Ω in. (166.5 cm.) wide, 33 in. (84 cm.) Hamilton Palace, situated approximately ten miles southeast of Glasgow, was the principal
deep seat of the Dukes of Hamilton for nearly 300 years. It was at one time among the grandest
stately homes in Great Britain, filled with exceptional furniture, magnificent paintings,
$10,000-15,000
and the finest decorative objects and antiquities rivaling those of the Royal Collection.
PROVENANCE: Alexander, the 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1852), remembered for his princely taste and
William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th lavish spending, notably expanded the palace and embellished the collection with important
Duke of Hamilton (1845-1895), Lanarkshire until sold: works associated with Versailles and the Palazzo della Cancelleria as well as various kings,
The Hamilton Palace Collection, Christie’s London, 17 June- queens, emperors, dukes and cardinals. By the time of his death the palace was a treasure
20 July 1882, almost certainly lot 670 or 671 (£100 16s) to C.J. trove of almost unmatched splendor. By the last quarter of the 19th century, the majority of
Ross. the family’s wealth had been squandered and the palace had fallen into a state of neglect.
The Collection of Edulji and Bachoo Dinshaw, New York.
Acquired by French and Company, New York, 20 May 1953. In order to save the family’s fortune, the dispersal of the core of the Hamilton Collections
Sold, 2 August 1968, ($6500) to unidentified buyer ‘Davis(?)’. took place over two tremendous house sales at Christie’s London in 1882 and 1919. The
1882 sale in particular garnered substantial public interest on both sides of the Atlantic and
LITERATURE: can be argued as the first of truly global significance. Regarded as the sale of the century,
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: many viewed it as an opportunity to witness and even safeguard one of the nation’s finest
Maxwell, Christopher Luke (2014) The dispersal of the art collections. It was indeed an unparalleled success. The 2,213 lots raised a record total of
Hamilton Palace collection. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.
A.A. Tait, 'The Duke of Hamilton's Palace', The Burlington £397,562 0s 6d, one that would not be matched for another 30 years.
Magazine, Vol. 125, No. 964, July 1983, pp. 394-402
Despite the successful auctions, the cost of restoration for Hamilton Palace, which had
lost its structural integrity due to subsidence from excessive coalmining on the grounds,
The present lot, stamped ‘53299’ twice in green to the
remained too exorbitant and it was thus demolished in the 1920s. Christie's sale of the
backrail, appears in the records of New York dealers French
Hamilton Palace Collection remains amongst the greatest auctions of furniture and works
and Company. Interestingly, French & Co. describes the
of art ever carried out, with many pieces now belonging to important museum and private
table as a ‘Chippendale style carved and gilt console table
collections.
with marble top’ likened to the work of Thomas Johnson.
It further describes the top as ‘porphyry red scagliola,’
1081 Fifth Avenue
indicating the marble on the present lot is later associated.
The document mentions a Hamilton Palace provenance and
‘Miss B. Dinsha’ refers to Bachoo Dinshaw (Countess Bachoobai Woronzow-Dashkow,
also states that it was purchased it from ‘Miss B. Dinsha’ of
1914-2003). Bachoo and her brother Edulji Dinshaw (1916-1970) belonged to a prominent
1081 Fifth Avenue, New York in 1953 for $1,000, thus tracing
Parsi family from Mumbai and settled in New York shortly before World War II. They bought
the history of this table to two significant yet ephemeral
a townhouse at 1081 Fifth Avenue, which Edulji filled with a well-appointed collection
collections, since lost to time and circumstance.
of remarkable museum quality furniture, porcelain and decorative objects of significant
historical importance. Unfortunately, the townhouse was razed around 1960 to make way
for 1080 Fifth Avenue, which stands in its place today.
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