http://collections.mfa.org/collections/376801/objects/rdfAOE.English Regency Designhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1051989/resize%3Aformat%3Dfullhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/928886/resize%3Aformat%3DfullBust of George IV1830Rundell, Bridge & RundellGilt-bronze, mounted with enamel, gold, diamonds, emeralds, and rubiesThis jeweled bust of King George IV portrays him in the classical pose and tunic of Imperial Rome’s emperors. Elaborate jewelry adorning the king—a diamond-studded tunic with ruby neckline and an emerald fibula and pendant—testifies to the opulence of his reign. The bust was made by the London jewelry firm Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, which served Britain’s royalty and the nobility, and was based on a marble bust by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey. The royal family presented this bust to Sir Henry Halford, physician to George III, George IV, William IV, and the young future Queen Victoria.The bust sits on a hexagonal plinth decorated in the Gothic style with an enameled coat of arms of the House of Hanover. A gold medallion mounted on the back commemorates George IV’s coronation on July 19, 1821.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/457143/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/928806/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCabinetabout 1815George BullockLaburnum, ebony, with brass inlay; gilt-bronze mounts; brass grille; rouge griotte marble top of later dateCabinet-maker George Bullock, who mastered the technique of brass inlay and marquetry between 1810–15, originally created a cabinet like this one to hold scientific specimens. The powerful geometric design and inlaid ornamentation give it the grandeur found on much larger cabinets.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/459492/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/995152/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCabinet-on-standabout 1805James NewtonOak, pine, and mahogany, veneered with satinwood, rosewood, tulipwood, ebony, and boxwood; partially ebonized and gilded; ivory, and brassDesigned for a collector, this cabinet is fitted with two banks of eight graduated drawers, intended to hold medals, coins, and other small-scale works of art. The case has a frieze with a Vitruvian scroll below a brass gallery and cast bronze Egypitan heads at each corner of the front and sides of the upper case. A lion's head is at the center of the separate stand, which has reeded legs and lion's paw feet.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/474222/rdfCarlton House deskabout 1815George OakleyCalamander, gilt metal, leather writing surfaceThe design of this desk with a stepped superstructure is traditionally associated with Carlton House, the London residence of the Prince Regent, later King George IV. The fashion for furniture in the “Grecian” taste inlaid in the “buhl” manner was a specialty of the Bond Street cabinet-maker George Oakley, whose “Manufactory and Magazine for fashionable Furniture” was patronized by George IV, then Prince Regent. Exotic woods with striking grain, such as calamander, or zebra wood, from the British colonies (most likely India), were popular during the Regency period in England.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/509851/rdfCenter tableabout 1810Rosewood, gray granite, gilt metalThis unusual center table on a rosewood plinth recalls similar tables used to furnish the Prince Regent’s London residence at Carlton House. A variety of new furniture forms, such as pier tables, console tables, and side tables, were developed during the Regency period for halls and reception rooms. This table is notable for its finely cast and modeled central column, decorated with acanthus leaves and supported by classical scroll brackets.Photograph © Mallett Antiques Ltd.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/520387/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/920645/resize%3Aformat%3DfullChandelierabout 1810Glass and gilt bronzeIn the 1790s English glass chandeliers adopted a new “tent,” or tapering, form made up entirely of linked glass drops. As on this example, the drops increase in size as the tent falls and spreads, so that there are no voids. All the drops and pendants on these chandeliers were lapidary cut, using rotating cutting wheels, rather than being molded or blown. The enormous expense of the chandeliers and the brilliance of the light reflected from their faceted drops made them the most striking features of early nineteenth-century English interiors.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/459884/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1031444/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCircular inkstand and two ink bottlesabout 1810–15George BullockVeneered with tortoiseshell and brass, glass bottlesCircular dish with brass inlaid with tortoiseshell in the "Boulle" technique, with stylized flowers and acanthus scrolls around the rim. The center includes a rectangular recess for pens flanked by two circular wells for cut-glass ink bottles with brass lids inlaid with six-petaled flowers.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/581664/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1212712/resize%3Aformat%3DfullGriffin wall lightabout 1802Thomas HopeBeech and limewood, painted to simulate bronzeThomas Hope, a celebrated collector and interior designer, designed this wall light for his own London house on Duchess Street. Interior views of the house were published in 1807 and strongly influenced English taste during first few decades of the nineteenth century. Architects and designers often turned to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration, adapting antique decorative motifs to English interior decoration. Sacred to the light-giving sun deity Apollo, griffins were believed to be guardians of the sacred flame and were often used as, or in conjunction with, lighting devices by Regency designers. Made of limewood stained to imitate bronze, this wall light with Roman-inspired back plate was later acquired by Regency furniture collector Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/512820/rdfHanging wall lightabout 1810Gilded and painted woodhttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/512821/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1212752/resize%3Aformat%3DfullInkstand1803Alexis DecaixGilt and patinated bronze; woodThis inkstand stand belongs to a group associated with the leading bronze-mount manufacturer of the Georgian era, Alexis Decaix. It is closely related to a yew-wood version acquired by the Prince of Wales, later George IV. The design of the mounts has strong affinities with the engravings illustrated in Thomas Hope's seminal publication, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807), which includes the introductory reference:`Throughout this vast metropolis, teeming as it does with artificers and tradesman I have, after the most laborious search, only been able to find...(one man)...to whose industry and talent I could ...confide the execution of the more enriched portion of my designs: namely Decaix...a bronzist and native of France...'http://collections.mfa.org/objects/546872/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1031040/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMantel clock1808-1811Benjamin VulliamyPatinated and gilt bronze, marbleCylindrical clock surounted by an eagle and resting between two recumbent lions. Mounted on a plinth on top of a black marble base whose front is ornamented with a gilded classical frieze extending across its full width. The clock dial is gilded with Roman numerals.The cast relief across the base is based on Charles Heathcote Tatham's engraving of the Aldobrandini relief, from his "Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture" (1799). Such reliefs were manufactured under the direction of Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, who dealt in decorative furniture and ormolu imported from Paris, particularly from the bronze manufacturer Pierre-Maximilien Delafontaine.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/509857/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1219144/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMusic standabout 1810Sebastian ErardBeech, brass candleholdersThis two-sided music stand imitating black and gold Asian lacquer was made by the renowned French instrument maker and inventor Sebastian Erard. Besides harps and pianos, the Erard firm also specialized in at least two kinds of music stands: mahogany and “japanned and gilded” like this one. This duet music stand was previously owned by Gerald Wellesley (1885–1972), 7th Duke of Wellington, whose collection of Regency furniture helped to revive interest in Thomas Hope in the early 20th century.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/547869/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1219143/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMusic stoolabout 1810Sebastian ErardWoodThis music stool imitating black and gold lacquer was made by the renowned French instrument maker and inventor Sebastian Erard. This stool, accompanied by a matching duet music stand, was previously owned by Gerald Wellesley (1885–1972), 7th Duke of Wellington, whose collection of Regency furniture helped to revive interest in Thomas Hope in the early twentieth century.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/547870/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1268923/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOne of a pair of "Griffin Tripod" Standsafter 1805William BullockCast iron, wood, gesso, bronzed, painted, and gildedThese griffin tripods are the earliest identified objects documenting the collaboration of the Bullock brothers. William’s innovative use of cast iron for fashionable, high-style furniture appears to be the earliest recorded example.It is likely that William used George’s classical furniture to decorate the new Roman Gallery at his Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, a museum which William commissioned to house his collection of curiosities brought back from the South Seas by Captain Cook (housed today in the British Museum). The masks, with their exaggerated ears embellishing each side of the triangular tops, may reflect William's interest in pre-Columbian artifacts or Greek masks. http://collections.mfa.org/objects/563133/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/928807/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOne of a pair of hall chairsabout 1820T. & G. SeddonMahogany, with painted initialsOne of a pair of hall chairs, with 2004.2248.2http://collections.mfa.org/objects/458011/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1090946/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOne of a pair of pier tables and mirrorsabout 1800Gilded pine, rosewood, mirror glass, and bardiglio marble topsOne of a pair, with 2005.1095. The design of these pier tables and mirrors suggests that they may have originated from the circle of architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1842), whose Grand Tour was sponsored by the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806), a favorite of the Prince Regent, later King George IV. Holland used this same monopodium design on the fireplace in the Ante Room, off the Drawing Room, at Southill, a country house in Bedfordshire (1796-1800). The animal monopodia, or decorative supports consisting of the head and one leg of an animal (often a lion or leopard), was first seen in Roman furniture and was revived during the late eighteenth century by neoclassical designers. Regency designers took inspiration from archeological sources from Greece and Rome as they sought to reproduce ancient forms of decoration by incorporating symbols from the ancient Roman period.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/465824/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1031327/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of "Atlas" candelabraabout 1815Benjamin Lewis VulliamyPatinated bronzeThe pair of candelabra was likely designed by royal clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy based on an engraving of a clock in the form of a celestial globe supported by Atlas. The Vulliamy Ornament Books show that between 1812 and 1821 the artist supplied seven pairs of "Atlas" candelabra: two pairs were for the Prince Regent; two for Lord Anson, and a pair each for Lord Lansdowne, Lord Plymouth, and Sir John Thorold.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/661185/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1004169/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of candelabraabout 1815John BladesGilt bronze, glasshttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/508423/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1766384/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of chairsabout 1805Gilded beech, brass castors, modern upholsteryEach with a padded scrolled back, the curved toprail between moulded downswept arms with scroll and paterae terminals, on reeded tapering legs headed by paterae with gadrooned feet, with gadrooned brass caps and castors, stamped 'W', one chair with 'II' inscribed in pencil on the backrail, re-upholstered.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/556904/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1031039/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of chimera candlesticks1810Benjamin VulliamyPatinated and gilt bronzeThe torch-bearing chimera, a goat-horned and lioned-headed griffin that was sacred to the sun-god Apollo and associated with fire, derives from a drawing of a marble relief made in Rome in the mid-1790s by the architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (died in 1842). The “Antique Chimera in basso relievo of white marble” was discovered during his research into appropriate ornament for the decoration of George, Prince of Wales's palace of Carlton House in London. The chimera was engraved for Tatham's "Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture, Drawn from the Originals in Rome" in 1799. The model for a bronze griffin with golden torch was patented in 1809 by Benjamin Vulliamy and his son Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780–1854), clockmakers to King George III. The son served as “Furniture man” to the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. http://collections.mfa.org/objects/509853/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1212751/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of covered vasesabout 1805Patinated and gilt bronze; brassEach with circular flaming-finial mounted tops above a circular waisted body with winged masks to each side and chimerical beasts issuing arched handles, above a waisted brass socle, on a concave-side canted triangular base, with reeded angles, each side mounted with masks, on scrolled and palmette paw feet.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/556903/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1052835/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of 'eagle and serpent' candelabraabout 1805–10Patinated and gilt bronze; marble basesTwo-branch candelabra with a sculptural base with a cast bronze eagle attacking a gilded bronze snake. The sculptures rest on a rectangular marble base. The candelabra emerges from the end of the snake between the wings of the eagle. Two downward curving branches with candle sockets extend from a central shaft from which symmetrical swags of chain are attached above and below to delicate scrolls that end in floral ornaments.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/509253/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1224409/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of Egyptian 'sphinx' candlesticksabout 1810Patinated bronze, marblehttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/556907/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1399541/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of hall chairs1780–1800Mahoganyhttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/556902/rdfPair of helmetsearly 19th centuryThomas HopeBronzed and gilded limewoodHelmet ornament with flat back, to be applied as an ornament. In the form of a Phrygian cap with cheek pieces and an eleaborate crest, or comb, that runs from front to back, with a trailing tail.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/623853/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1031435/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of monopodia-supported armchairsabout 1810Gilded wood, modern upholsteryhttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/546883/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1307272/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of tripod torchèresabout 1795Gilded and painted wood, painted wood slab topsTripod stand with three carved and gilded upright supports springing from lion paws at each corner of a triangular plinth with concave sides painted to resemble porphyry. The tapered legs are embellished with acanthus carving and terminate in a scroll. The tops of the supports enclose a bowl-shaped vessel whose underside is ebonized and enriched with cast, applied, and gilded leaves. The sides are embellished with a broad classical frieze with guilloche borders and lion's heads in the center of each segment between the legs. A partially gilded, tapered finial with gadrooned and beaded base, fluted sides, and a metal-form lid rises from the center of the plinth.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/559476/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1298130/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPair of wall lightsabout 1802Thomas HopeBronzed and gilt limewood, later brass chainshttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/564522/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/928808/resize%3Aformat%3Dfull'Pouch' tableabout 1805John McLean & SonRosewood, tulipwood, and boxwood; gilt brass; silk and cordRegency furniture designs were novel in both form and function, and a variety of tables for specific purposes were often used in the library. This work table with a fitted bag under the top drawer was used to hold sewing materials. A popular design in England and France, its lightweight construction allowed it to be moved easily around a room.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/458015/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1224417/resize%3Aformat%3DfullRectangular inkstand with three lidded ink bottlesabout 1810–15George BullockVeneered with ebony and brass, glass bottlesConstructed in ebony, with brass inlays, of rectangular form with sloping sides and rounded ends. The rectangular central well has three divisions with detachable covers to hold glass bottles for ink and blotting sand.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/581668/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1051989/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSarcophagus-shaped inkstandabout 1810Rootwood and ebony, inlaid with brass, gilt-bronze mountsThis inkstand in the form of an ancient Roman sarcophagus incorporates inlaid brass decoration in the French manner and features the Order of the Garter on the lid, suggesting a royal connection.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/509251/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/922286/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSofa Tableabout 1810–20Calamander, satinwood, and rosewood, inlaid with brass, gilt-lacquered metal mounts; brass castersA purely British invention, this sofa table may have been used for writing, dressing, or intimate dining, making its sleek form suitable for domestic use.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/457791/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1178148/resize%3Aformat%3DfullTripod standabout 1802Thomas HopeMahoganyThis monopodium, or tripod stand, whose top, through means of a slider and a screw, can be raised or lowered, corresponds precisely to a drawing and description in Thomas Hope’s Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807), which introduced the term “interior decoration” into the English language. Regency designers took inspiration from archeological sources from Greece and Rome, striving to reproduce antique forms of decoration and incorporating symbols, such as monopodia, from the ancient world.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/547866/rdf