Pelmet Curtain Pair Duke of Northumberland Alnwick Castle

Pair of Curtain Pelmets From the Collection of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle

Two curtain pelmets upholstered in stone velour with twisted being and brown silk cord. They could easily be re-upholstered and/or repurposed.

The pair of 3 pelmets Length 250cm., 98 1/2" height 52cm., 20 1/2" depth 14cm., 5 1/2"

Acquired with an identical pair of larger pelmets -being sold separately A pair of pelmets - length 178 70" 5ft10' height 27cm 10 1/2" depth 14cm., 5 1/2" A larger single pelmet - 199cm., 78 1/4" 6ft6" height 27cm 10 1/2" depth 14cm., 5 1/2"

Provenance : Attic sale of items from Alnwick Castle & as well as the Duke's official London residence Syon House, Stanwick Hall, Albury Park and other Ducal properties.

Alnwick Castle - the origins of the Castle date back to the Norman period. Since 1309, its story has been intertwined with that of the Percy family, a family with a history as illustrious as the castle's own. The second largest inhabited castle in the UK, Alnwick has served as a military outpost, a teaching college, a refuge for evacuees, a film set, and not least as a family home. The incunbent Duke & Duchess of Northumberland have developed Alnwick Castle as a significant visitor attraction and a garden renaissance in the creation of The Alnwick Garden.

Maker : Whytock and Reid (1807-2004). Edinburgh furniture makers, established in 1807 by Richard Whytock and John Reid. In its 19th and early 20th century glory days, furnished the great houses and castles of Scotland, often working in partnership with the architect Robert Lorimer.

Whytock received his first Royal Warrant in 1838.  Richard Whytock was listed at 9 & 11 George Street & Rose Court, Edinburgh in 1865 and in 1876 the partnership of Whytock & Reid, cabinet makers at the same address in George Street, was established, as recorded in The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1876.  In 1885 the firm moved their workshops to a new purpose built cabinet works, for 'Decoration, Upholstery, Furniture and Cabinetworks', in Sunbury House, Belford Mews, Edinburgh. In 1934 the George Street premises were closed to make way for new showrooms and offices in 7 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh and the same decade saw the closure of the company's other branch offices in Glasgow etc. In 1974 the premises in Charlotte Square were closed and a showroom and offices were built on the Belford Mews site. Richard Whytock & Co. was listed as a supplier for Balmoral in the Lord Chamberlain's accounts 1870-85 and the partnership of Whytock & Reid was recorded with royal warrant in 1885 & 1888 [The Furniture Gazette, 7 February 1885 & 1 March 1888]. A pair of carved, giltwood side tables, made by Whytock & Reid, with alabastar tops which had once belonged to Pope Pius VI, were presented to George V and Queen Mary by Sir R. Rowand Anderson for the Palace of Holyroodhouse in 1917. They remain in the Royal Collection (RCIN 28117).  Whytock exhibited a pollard oak sideboard at the 1862 London International Exhibition (illus. Meyer (2006), p. 156). The firm of R. Whytock & Co. exhibited 'engraved and illuminated ash bedroom furniture (registered and trade marked)' at the 1865 Dublin International Exhibition. The partnership of Whytock & Reid received a diploma of honour for its display of a reception room at the 1886 Edinburgh International Exhibition, [The Furniture Gazette, 1 December 1886].  Whytock & Reid was Robert Lorimer's cabinet maker of choice, although he also used Scott Morton & Co and others. Makers of the furniture for Glencruitten, Oban, in the Italian Renaissance style, to Lorimer's designs. The firm continued to make Lorimer designs into the 21st century, notable the 'Lorimer Drawing Table' (illus. Anderson, Regional Furniture 2005, fig 10). The Furniture Gazette recorded two other commissions; a new carved oak pew, with Gothic canopy rising to 15 ft, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh [8 May 1885] and tables, chairs etc., for the Public Library Committee, Edinburgh. The company ceased trading on 30 July 2004. Various examples of Whytock & Reid's furniture are in the collection of the National Museums Scotland.

Sources: Joy, 'The Royal Victorian Furniture-Makers, 1837-87', The Burlington Magazine (November 1969); Anderson, 'Robert Lorimer and Scott Morton & Company', Regional Furniture (2005); Meyer, Great Exhibitions. London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia. 1851-1900 (2006); Carruthers, 'William Morris and Scotland', The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present (2000); Carruthers, The Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland (2013). Source Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers, 1500-1914.