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Purpose

Designs for a chimneypiece and overmantel mirror frame for the great drawing room (now the portico room), 1774-1778, executed with minor alterations (2)

Notes

The great drawing room (sometimes referred to as the second drawing room, now the portico room) maintains a chimneypiece executed to Adam’s design (Adam volume 23/61), but with minor alterations. The capitals have been substituted, instead depicting torches and fasces, and the central tablet changed from two stags (the Bathurst armorial supporters) to a scene featuring Cupid and Psyche. Both Harris and Lea surmise that the sculptor was most likely John Devall the younger, with large payments made to Devall from Lord Apsley’s account at Drummonds.

If executed, Lea suggests the most likely location for SM Adam volume 20/170 would have been the great drawing room (portico room), based on the dimensions and proportions of the design. Harris credits the execution of the Apsley House mirrors and girandoles to Sefferin Nelson, the carver and gilder appointed to execute Adam’s designs for Derby House. She notes a significant payment of £259 made to Nelson from Lord Bathurst’s account at Drummond’s, dating to 1779.

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Contents of Designs for a chimneypiece and overmantel mirror frame for the great drawing room (now the portico room), 1774-1778, executed with minor alterations (2)