Percy Macquoid
Encyclopedia
Percy Macquoid was a theatrical designer and a collector and connoisseur of English furniture
, and the author of articles, largely for Country Life
, and of four books on the history of English furniture, the first major survey of the subject, which have been reprinted and are still of use today: The Age of Oak, The Age of Walnut, The Age of Mahogany and The Age of Satinwood, ending his surveys about the year 1800. These terms, particularly the first three, have become the standard terms for referring to these different periods and styles. Despite this respect for his observations and commentary, his historical research has often been queried. He collaborated with Ralph Edwards on The Dictionary of English Furniture (three volumes, 1924–1927). Macquoid's books were published by Country Life
.
The son of the book illustrator and watercolourist Thomas Robert Macquoid (1820–1912), his early career was as an illustrator and theatrical designer,Some of his costume designs for B.J. Simmons & Co. are at the University of Texas at Austin. whose illustrations in The Graphic Vincent Van Gogh
praised to Anthon van Rappard in 1883 as "the non plus ultra of elegance and mild refined feeling".Letter, January 1883. Macquoid was a favoured designer of the theatrical producer Herbert Beerbohm Tree
, notably for Tree's 1906 productions of Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra and Nero.Macquoid contributed an essay to the booklet commemorating the fiftieth performance, 9 March 1906. In 1899 Macquoid produced decorations for the renovated St. James's Theatre, King Street, (demolished 1957-58) which were carried out by the leading London decorators Messrs. Morant and Co. For the great collector Lord Leverhulme, Macquoid designed the 'Adam Room' for the Lady Lever Art Gallery
, Port Sunlight
, Liverpool. The work was carried out by the London decorating firm of White, Allom
and installed the year of Macquoid's death. For it, Macquoid adapted principal elements from two documented Robert Adam
houses: the plasterwork and colour of the walls derived from the Music Room at Harewood House
, West Yorkshire, while the mirror above the fireplace is based on one at 20 St. James Square, London."The 'Adam Room'"
Following his marriage in 1891 to Theresa I. Dent, the couple built The Yellow House, Bayswater, London, to designs by Ernest George
and Harold Peto
. Summer and autumn he and his wife Theresa spent at Hoove Lea, overlooking the sea at Hove
. In both houses there was Macquoid's collection of seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century English furniture, cared for by "a devoted and efficient staff" (Edwards 1974). Much of the furnishings collected by Macquoid — furniture, silver, paintings, porcelain and more — now form the Macquoid Bequest, furnishing a room at Preston Manor
, in Brighton, East Sussex. Theresa was on the committee of Brighton Museum and was very fond of Preston Manor, one of the other museums cared for by the local authority.
In the May 1974 issue of Apollo, Ralph Edwards recalled his collaboration with Percy Macquoid on The Dictionary of English Furniture."From the Apollo archives"
English furniture
English furniture has developed largely in line with styles in the rest of northern Europe, but has been interpreted in a distinctive fashion. Regional styles are significant, for example between the North Country and the West Country....
, and the author of articles, largely for Country Life
Country Life (magazine)
Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
, and of four books on the history of English furniture, the first major survey of the subject, which have been reprinted and are still of use today: The Age of Oak, The Age of Walnut, The Age of Mahogany and The Age of Satinwood, ending his surveys about the year 1800. These terms, particularly the first three, have become the standard terms for referring to these different periods and styles. Despite this respect for his observations and commentary, his historical research has often been queried. He collaborated with Ralph Edwards on The Dictionary of English Furniture (three volumes, 1924–1927). Macquoid's books were published by Country Life
Country Life (magazine)
Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
.
The son of the book illustrator and watercolourist Thomas Robert Macquoid (1820–1912), his early career was as an illustrator and theatrical designer,Some of his costume designs for B.J. Simmons & Co. are at the University of Texas at Austin. whose illustrations in The Graphic Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
praised to Anthon van Rappard in 1883 as "the non plus ultra of elegance and mild refined feeling".Letter, January 1883. Macquoid was a favoured designer of the theatrical producer Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
, notably for Tree's 1906 productions of Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra and Nero.Macquoid contributed an essay to the booklet commemorating the fiftieth performance, 9 March 1906. In 1899 Macquoid produced decorations for the renovated St. James's Theatre, King Street, (demolished 1957-58) which were carried out by the leading London decorators Messrs. Morant and Co. For the great collector Lord Leverhulme, Macquoid designed the 'Adam Room' for the Lady Lever Art Gallery
Lady Lever Art Gallery
The Lady Lever Art Gallery was founded in 1922 by Sunlight Soap magnate, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and dedicated to the memory of his wife....
, Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight is a model village, suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Between 1894 and 1974 it formed part of Bebington urban district within the county of Cheshire...
, Liverpool. The work was carried out by the London decorating firm of White, Allom
Charles Allom
Sir Charles Carrick Allom was an eminent British decorator, trained as an architect knighted for his work on Buckingham Palace. Among his American clients in the years preceding World War I was Henry Clay Frick, for whom Allom furnished houses in cooperation with Sir Joseph Duveen, the eminent...
and installed the year of Macquoid's death. For it, Macquoid adapted principal elements from two documented Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
houses: the plasterwork and colour of the walls derived from the Music Room at Harewood House
Harewood House
Harewood House is a country house located in Harewood , near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for nine of the foremost stately homes in England...
, West Yorkshire, while the mirror above the fireplace is based on one at 20 St. James Square, London."The 'Adam Room'"
Following his marriage in 1891 to Theresa I. Dent, the couple built The Yellow House, Bayswater, London, to designs by Ernest George
Ernest George
Sir Ernest George RA was an English architect, landscape and architectural watercolour painter, and etcher.-Life and work:...
and Harold Peto
Harold Peto
Harold Ainsworth Peto was a British landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France.-Biography:...
. Summer and autumn he and his wife Theresa spent at Hoove Lea, overlooking the sea at Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
. In both houses there was Macquoid's collection of seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century English furniture, cared for by "a devoted and efficient staff" (Edwards 1974). Much of the furnishings collected by Macquoid — furniture, silver, paintings, porcelain and more — now form the Macquoid Bequest, furnishing a room at Preston Manor
Preston Manor, Brighton
Preston Manor is the former manor house of the ancient Sussex village of Preston, now part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove, England. The present building dates mostly from 1738, when Lord of the manor Thomas Western rebuilt the original 13th-century structure , and 1905 when Charles...
, in Brighton, East Sussex. Theresa was on the committee of Brighton Museum and was very fond of Preston Manor, one of the other museums cared for by the local authority.
In the May 1974 issue of Apollo, Ralph Edwards recalled his collaboration with Percy Macquoid on The Dictionary of English Furniture."From the Apollo archives"