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Adam Style Wash Stand, L. 19th to E. 20th Century
Highly Decorative Adam Style Wash Stand, with figured fruitwood, satinwood and paint decorated top and skirt, mahogany is the secondary wood with dovetailed drawer, lower cabinet door with a paned and painted front, turned feet in good condition, minor restoration, Late 19th to Early 20th Century, probably English, 29" X 16" X 16". The British architects Robert (1728-1792) and James (1730-1794) Adam, of the neoclassic style in the late 18th century. Their graceful, elegant work is based chiefly on ancient Roman and Renaissance motifs. Robert's principal work from 1750 to 1754, in collaboration with James, was the completion of their father's masterpiece, Hopetoun House, West Lothian, Scotland. They reacted against the decoration of the Palladian school and introduced a more elegance neoclasical style such as in the Yellow and Red Drawing Rooms of Hopetoun House. Robert also redesigned the outlying pavilions of the house in a manner that illustrates his neoclassic style.
His first independent work was the design of Dumfries House, Scotland (1751-1754). It was probably here that the cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale commenced his long association with Robert in the furnishing of Adam houses. In 1754 Robert traveled to Rome; influenced by his study there under the guidance of the artist C. L. Clérisseau, Robert made thousands of drawings of classical and Renaissance buildings and monuments. Robert published a book of illustrations: The Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro (1764).The interior decorations of these houses mark the breakaway from the fashionable Palladian and rococo taste and the rise of the neoclassic style, which was to be in vogue for the next 30 years. The style was based on: the classical motifs of husks and bellflowers, swags and garlands, vines, vases, tripods, gryphons, sphinxes, paterae, formal arabesques, and scrolls of foliage, with a more delicate style, of lightness and grace of antiquity. In 1773 the brothers published the first volume of The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, the second volume followed in 1779, and the third was published posthumously in 1822. The work of the Adam Brothers in Architecture and Furniture relected boldness of the Roman architectural orders and stylistic development of the interiors of Roman elements and this translated into a delicate style of Adam Furniture and the motifs used, were know in history as achieving a distinctive beauty, charm, and elegance unsurpassed in the history of architecture and decoration. LifestyleAntiques.com is the web site where one can shop on line or if you are in the area we are an antique dealer in Summerland, California just 3 minutes south of Santa Barbara. Specializing in European Antique Furniture and our accent is antique lighting for your home, or office with handmade parchment shades adorning the selection of unique lamps. We specialize in Decorative Arts and French furniture as well as antique furniture from Spain and Italy, you will find the shop warm and inviting.
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