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Two Pokers The design after A.W.N. Pugin (1812-52) The manufacture attributed to John Hardman & Co. (1838-1900) Supplied by the firm of Crace (1768-1899) Steel and brass 34 5/8 in (88 cm) high English (Birmingham), probably circa 1852-53 PROVENANCE: James Watts, Abney Hall, Cheadle; thence by descent; [ ...]. Abney Hall (Cheadle Town Hall since 1959) was built in 1847 as ‘The Grove’ for Alfred Orrell. In 1849 James Watts, owner of the largest wholesale drapery business in Manchester, purchased the house and re-named it Abney Hall. Although Pugin supplied designs for Abney Hall towards the end of his life, Megan Aldrich has observed that this late commission owes more to John Gregory Crace (1809-89) than to Pugin himself. The interiors were largely completed under the supervision of Crace after Pugin’s death (see Megan Aldrich, ‘Gothic Interiors of the 19th Century John Gregory Crace at Abney Hall, The V&A Album 5 (1986), pp. 76-84). On the other hand, Pugin’s relationship with his favoured manufacturers, such as Crace, John Hardman (1811-67) and Herbert Minton (1793-1858), was such that they had routinely interpreted and realised his designs with their own interventions. The state rooms at Abney Hall, where the poker stands would have been installed, were completed by late 1853. Crace, however, remained involved until 1857, when he completed the Consort’s Bedroom for a visit by Prince Albert (see Aldrich, op. cit., fig. 9). Poker stands similar to the present pair can be identified to the left of the Drawing Room fireplace at Abney Hall (see Aldrich, op. cit., fig. 3) and to the right of the Dining Room fireplace (see below). It is not clear if these would have been used ornamentally as a pair either side of a fireplace, or one per fireplace. The Contents of Abney Hall were sold by Messrs. Brady & Sons, 17-21 and 24-28 March 1958, but it is said that the present pokers were acquired directly from descendants of James Watts. On day 4 of the sale, lot 957 included a ‘Brass Poker stand’ which is the only item in the sale that could conceivably be identical with one of the present items. The design of the Abney Hall pokers is redolent of the grand Pugin-designed candelabra that greet visitors at the top of the stairs at Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster, London. Surviving furniture from Abney Hall includes the octagonal library table (see Aldrich, op. cit., fig. 6, now in the collection of the V&A); a rectangular writing table and large bookcase, in situ (see R.W. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture, London, 1962, pls 38-39; a cabinet-on-stand in the collection of Salford Art Gallery (see Elizabeth Aslin, 19th Century English Furniture, London, 1962, pl. 35), and a pair of chairs in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (D.1.1-2-1985). A giltwood firescreen (Contents of Abney Hall, op. cit., lot 1936) was noted at Cliveden, Taplow in 1993. A further group of furniture was sold at Sotheby Beresford Adams, 26 February 1981, lots 84-89, including a pair of side tables now on loan at Lotherton Hall, Aberford |
