AN ANGLO-DUTCH FOUR-FOLD PAINTED LEATHER SCREEN

FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

Details

The whole decorated with a gilt foliate-patterned ground bordering three cartouches on each panel, depicting alternating scenes of courtly figures amidst pavilion landscapes, still lifes of fruit and flower baskets, and exotic birds among rockwork and flowers
81 3/4 in. (207.6 cm.) high, 83 in. (210.8 cm.) wide, overall


Lot Essay

The eighteenth-century production of Chinoiserie decorated gilt-leather panels is traditionally associated with workshops in the North and South Netherlands, however, an article in the Furniture History Journal has pointed out that English craftsmen were also producing high quality leather panels during this time (E. Koldeweij, 'Gilt Leather Hangings in Chinoiserie and Other Styles: An English Speciality', Furniture History Journal, 2000, vol. XXXVI, pp. 61-101). Published correspondence between Dutch patrons and English craftsman, foremost the London gilt leather maker John Rowland (d. 1744) and a number of his apprentices who later established independent workshops to continue the craft in London, demonstrate the degree of cross-channel commission and trade in such decorative panels.