Description / Expertise
A NORTH ITALIAN PARCEL GILT AND DECORATED BUREAU BOOKCASE
Venice
Circa 1947.
The bureau bookcase in two parts, the arched, moulded cornice surmounted by a foliate carved crest, above a pair of shaped glazed doors enclosing a paper lined fitted interior with twenty-three pigeon-holes and two small drawers, above a serpentine bureau base, the bureau-fall enclosing four pigeon-holes and two drawers, above two panelled doors enclosing a shelf, the top and base with shaped sides, the deep moulded plinth above short scrolled feet, the whole red-painted and decorated
overall with trailing floral garlands and foliate scrolls, the interior lined in Venetian handmade paper from Legatoria Piazzesi, Campiello della Feltrina, San Marco, Venice.
Provenance: Commissioned by Ronald Tree, M.P., in 1947 for Heron Bay, Barbados.
Arthur Ronald Lambert Field Tree (1897-1976) was an American born British journalist and Conservative Member of Parliament. His father was an English property developer, his mother the daughter of Marshall Field, the founder of Marshall Field’s department store. In November 1933 Ronald was elected to represent Harborough in Leicestershire. He and his American wife Nancy bought Ditchley Park, Northamptonshire, which Nancy decorated with Lady Colefax and Stephane Boudin of Maison Jansen. Tree and a group of friends saw the rapid rise of the Nazi party in Germany as a threat to Britain, his home became their base with Winston Churchill as their leader. On the outbreak of war Tree offered Churchill use of Ditchley, ideal as it was from a security viewpoint, Churchill gave Tree a job in the Ministry of Information.
In January 1946, having lost his seat in Parliament and newly married to Marietta Peabody Fitzgerald, Tree visited Barbados staying at Sir Edward Cunard’s home Glitter Bay. He was captivated by the island, bought a 40 acre coastal plot at Porters and built the magnificent Heron Bay, constructed from local white coral stone, modelled on Palladio’s Villa di Maser in the Veneto. The Trees had established themselves as two of the most glittering figures of New York high society, Heron Bay quickly became a Caribbean home for the beau-monde of the day. Less than ten years later the number of guests at Heron Bay had escalated to such a degree that Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate, opening a hotel in 1961 and inviting society friends to stay including the Rothschilds, Astors, Onassis, the name Sandy Lane becoming synonomous with luxury and stardom ever since.
Measurements: 109” (277 cm) High 55.75“ (142 cm) Wide 22.75“ (58 cm) Deep
Price gbp 8500.00 (Pound Sterling)
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Please note: This is a guide conversion price only as we update our currency table every six hours, please check with dealer which currencies are an acceptable form of payment.
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