Regency Cavalry Officer's Sabre by John Prosser, 1819
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A fine Regency cavalry officer's sabre by John Prosser, presented to Thomas potter MacQUEEN, dated 1819, the gilt hilt with a milled grip and wolf's head pommel, cross-guard with spread eagle badges in relief, acanthus leaf langets, and dog's head terminals, and guard modelled as a spiral of oak leaves and acorns with a red and gold rope sword knot with tassel, the curved steel blade with yelman and retaining traces of bluing and gilding to some details etched to one side with MacQueen's achievement of arms in a cartouche flanked by trophies and other martial and foliate decoration extending to three-quarters of its length, the other side similarly decorated and etched with Prosser's name and an inscription 'This sword was presented to Thomas potter MacQueen Esquire, of Ridgemount house, Major Commandant, of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry cavalry, by the officers, Commissioned officers, and Privates of the said Corps as proof of regard as an officer and affectionate esteem as a man, July 3rd 1819', the gilt metal scabbard with interlaced suspension loops pierced with panels of oak leaf acorn decoration backed with black velvet between locket and chape with martial and foliate decoration in relief trimmed with rope-twist edges, the top of the original mahogany with inset bronze roundel engraved 'Lieutenant Colonel Thomas potter MacQueen Ridgemont House' and retaining Prosser's paper label to the underside of the cover, Sold with a framed reproduction print of Charles Turner's mezzotint engraving after James Ramsay's circa 1820 portrait of MacQueen in his Yeomanry uniform and wearing the present sword, length 96 cm. Provenance: Thomas Potter MacQueen, Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, presented to him in 1819, Thence by descent to Seton Marshall, Melbourne, the Estate of the late Seton Marshall. Other Notes: born at Segenhoe manor, Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, Thomas potter MacQueen (1791-1854) followed in his early adult life in England a conventional course as a country squire. From 1816 to 1830, he represented Bedfordshire constituencies in Parliament and in 1817 became an officer in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry cavalry. MacQueen was soon major-commandant of this corps and in 1820 was promoted to become its lieutenant-colonel - an event likely to be connected to the presentation of the present lot to MacQueen by the officers and men of the corps in 1819, around this time, MacQueen was also becoming increasingly interested in the further colonisation of Australia as its British colonies moved away from their original penal and military character. Inspired by official reports on the Australian colonies and his correspondence with prominent settlers in New South Wales such as his friend John Macarthur, MacQueen became convinced of the potential for development in Australia, both for its own sake and as a solution to social and economic problems affecting the poor in England, an issue that greatly concerned him, upon receiving a grant of 10,000 acres in New South Wales in 1823, MacQueen beginning giving effect to his vision. While remaining in England himself, he entrusted his overseer in New South Wales to establish his property in the hunter valley as a model enterprise - named Segenhoe, after MacQueen's birthplace - and, before long, a community around it. In 1824, MacQueen sponsored the emigration of a party of farmers, mechanics, and livestock to New South Wales - the first such free emigrant endeavour - and in following years keenly promoted various agricultural and commercial initiatives to support settlement and development in different parts of Australia. From 1834 to 1838 MacQueen lived in New South Wales himself, leading an active public life at Segenhoe and in Sydney, before returning to England and publishing works recounting his experience of Australia.
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- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - Oak - Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.
Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,
Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.
Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods. - Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.
The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.
It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture. - Roundel - A roundel is a circular disk, medallion or border on a plate or dish, on an object of furniture. A plate or dish will often have a central circular bordered decoration, termed a roundel. In furniture the word is often used instead of the word 'patera' to describe a turned circular decoration. In recent times use of the word has expanded to encompass any circular area on an object.
- Acanthus - A stylized leaf motif, one of the primary decorative elements of classical Greek and Roman architecture, derived from the genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Mediterranean area. It is a common element in classical Greek and Roman design, and is often seen in Corinthian and Composite order columns and used as a decorative element in English, European and Australian furniture, particularly on the curve of a leg, and as decoration for a corbel.
- Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
- Regency Period - The Regency period in English furniture design refers to the period when King George III, was declared unfit to rule in 1811, and his son ruled as proxy as Prince Regent, until 1820, and then, after the death of his father as George IV until his death in 1830. The Regency period was preceded by the Georgian period (George I, George II, and George III: 1714 - 1811), and was followed by the William IV period, which only lasted until 1837 when William IV died as was succeeded by Queen Victoria.
- Cartouche - An ornamental panel in the form of of a shield, oval or rectangular scroll with curling edges. It may be carved into the back of a chair or the top of a sideboard, or present on a piece of silver or jewellery, and contain the initials of the original owner, heraldic symbols, or some other inscription, such as the details of a presentation.
In ceramics the term defines the central area of a vase or similar with a decorative border in one of the shapes above, into which a decorative scene or figures have been painted. - Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
- Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
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