AN EXCEPTIONAL GEORGE III STATUARY AND SIENNA MARBLE CHIMNEYPIECE

[Click image to view in new window, left or right arrow to see previous or next image.]

AN EXCEPTIONAL GEORGE III STATUARY AND SIENNA MARBLE CHIMNEYPIECE

ALMOST CERTAINLY DESIGNED BY JOHN YENN (1750–1821)

English, circa 1770–1775.

Dimensions:
Overall width: 73½ in (186.7 cm)
Overall height: 57 in (144.8 cm)
Overall depth: 8 in (20.3 cm)

Internal opening:
Internal width: 44 in (111.8 cm)
Internal height: 41 in (104.1 cm) 

An exceptional George III period statuary marble chimneypiece of restrained architectural elegance, almost certainly designed by the distinguished English architect John Yenn (1750–1821).

The chimneypiece is beautifully composed in white statuary marble, enriched by the subtle warmth and veining of Sienna marble to the frieze and jambs. The frieze is centred by a carved tablet decorated with a fluted and floral motif, while the jambs are surmounted by finely carved capitals embellished with delicate leaf work. The whole is surmounted by a break-fronted cornice shelf, completing the architectural composition with admirable proportion and refinement.

Comparable chimneypiece designs by John Yenn, executed in pen and ink and watercolour, are held in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the University of Delaware, providing compelling parallels for the present example.

John Yenn
John Yenn (1750–1821) was an important English architect and architectural draughtsman of the late 18th century. Although not as widely recognised today as contemporaries such as Robert Adam, James Wyatt and his mentor Sir William Chambers, he occupied an influential position within British architectural circles during the Georgian period. Yenn also won the Royal Academy's Gold Medal for architectural design in 1771.

Important architectural commissions:

Blenheim Palace
Yenn succeeded Chambers as architect to the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim in the late 1770s. His commissions included the Ditchley Gate and the Temple of Health (1789).

Somerset House
Appointed Clerk of the Works in 1776, an important public.

Marlborough House
Designed architectural and interior schemes, including a saloon, drawing room and observatory.

Woodstock Church, Oxfordshire

Redesigned the north aisle in 1783.