A GEORGE II GILTWOOD CHIMNEYPIECE TO A DESIGN BY THOMAS JOHNSON

The statuary marble insert is of later date. The mantelpiece compares to two further examples, one sold in London in 1972, the other in New York in 1973. In both cases the design is firmly based on Johnson’s drawing published first in 1758 in his untitled collection of designs and again in the second edition, titled One Hundred and Fifty New Designs, in 1761.

Literature: Thomas Johnson, A Collection of Designs, 1758, pl. 31.
Christie’s, ‘Important English Furniture’, sale catalogue, 25 May 1972, lot 12, pl. 2.
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., ‘Fine English Furniture, Rugs and Clocks, Decorations’, sale catalogue, 27-28 April 1973, p. 32, lot 87.
Elizabeth White, A Pictorial Dictionary of 18th Century Furniture Designs - The Printed Sources, 1990, p. 372.