The Wallace Collection
(Catalogue nos. 1-6)
With its lavish display of French 18th-century paintings, porcelain and furniture, Hertford House, the former London town-house of Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, provided Trevor with a wealth of inspiration. He chose to focus on the ornately decorated chimneypieces, whose altar-like appearance attracted him. Catalogue nos. 1 and 3 are the more literal renderings, with their location – the Large Drawing Room covered in green damask – easy to identify. The central focus of both sheets is a splendid mantel clock, oak veneered with Boulle marquetry of brass and turtleshell, surmounted by a gilt-bronze figure of Diana. Flanking it are two candelabra of patinated bronze female figures raising flaming torches. In the mirror are hazy reflections of paintings hung across the room. In catalogue no. 3 the contours have been softened to a ghostly haziness.
Similar in style to that in catalogue no. 1 is the mantelpiece in the Back State Room (cat. no. 2), with its Rococo clock, candelabrum and mirror (Trevor appropriated the blue vase from another room in Hertford house). The mantelpiece of the Front State Room is evoked in catalogue no. 4 with the fabric of the nearby chair transformed from red to green; Trevor added a large ‘N’ for Newton - or Napoléon III for the style of the room - on the fire screen. The last two studies (cat. nos. 5-6) are imaginary interiors but reminiscent of Hertford House.
Similar in style to that in catalogue no. 1 is the mantelpiece in the Back State Room (cat. no. 2), with its Rococo clock, candelabrum and mirror (Trevor appropriated the blue vase from another room in Hertford house). The mantelpiece of the Front State Room is evoked in catalogue no. 4 with the fabric of the nearby chair transformed from red to green; Trevor added a large ‘N’ for Newton - or Napoléon III for the style of the room - on the fire screen. The last two studies (cat. nos. 5-6) are imaginary interiors but reminiscent of Hertford House.
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