HALSEY RICARDO (1854-1928) (DESIGNER) THE BIRMINGHAM GUILD OF HANDICRAFT LTD (MAKER)
PAIR OF DOUBLE WALL LIGHTS, CIRCA 1906-1907
£3,024
Auction: 11 October 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
24-carat gold-plated brass, gold foil enamel and original opalescent glass shades
Dimensions
35.5cm wide, 30.5cm high, 19cm deep
Provenance
Provenance: Supplied to Sir Ernest Debenham for Debenham House, 8 Addison Road, London, removed circa 1960
Phillips Auctioneers lots 148, 149, 150, 30th March 1993
Haslam & Whiteway, London
one pair British Art Market 2014
Paul Shutler
Footnote
Literature: The Architectural Review, An Essay in Colour Architecture, March 1907
Country Life, Madge Garland, 8 Addison Road, Kensington - The Town Houses of Halsey Ricardo - II, 20th November 1975
Note: Sir Ernest Debenham (1865-1952) of the Debenham department store family, commissioned the architect and designer Halsey Ricardo to build him a house at 8 Addison Road in 1906. This house came to be known as Debenham House or, on occasion, The Peacock House. Halsey Ralph Ricardo established his architectural practice in 1878 but also worked in partnership with William De Morgan (1839-1917) designing ceramics. He advocated the use of architectural glazed tiles to resist the pollution of 19th century London. Debenham House is a striking example of this practice.
Ricardo clad the external walls with glazed Burmantofts tiles in bands of peacock greens and blues. He fitted the four reception rooms, seventeen bedrooms and six bathrooms, all with De Morgan tiled fire surrounds (with no two alike) and with De Morgan pictorial panels throughout the building. In addition to this, he used various marbles and architectural elements clad with Doulton 'Carrara ware' tiles.
Described as the last flourish of the Arts & Crafts movement, the house features plaster friezes by Ernest Gimson (1864-1919), stained glass by Edward Prior (1852-1932) and a mosaic designed by George Jack (1855-1931). Along with the exterior gates and railings, the interior door furniture, including the handles, finger plates, bell-pushes and light fittings were all designed and made under the supervision of Ricardo by the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft. It would have been inappropriate for Ricardo to use any other firm for this commission as Debenham's father-in-law was Birmingham MP William Kenrick (1831-1919), chief shareholder and director of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft, and his brother-in-law was the Guild's managing director, Claude Napier-Clavering (1869-1938).
These lights are one of the original three pairs designed specifically for the main hall, they feature butterflies circling a single rose before ivy leaves, a theme repeated throughout the building.