The benches are marked out by their high quality carving including the central lionÂ’s masks and the scrolled and fluted legs terminating in lion-paw feet. Robert Adam was perhaps the most fashionable neo-classical architect in the later 18th century, renowned for his ability to bind together the architectural and furnishing elements of the many houses he was commissioned to develop. Adam was commissioned to remodel Kenwood House by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield from 1764 to 1779. The benches will be reinstalled in their original setting at Kenwood, their whereabouts having been unknown since the house sale of 1922.

Artists include

• Robert Adam
• Sefferin Nelson

Provenance

Commissioned by 1st Earl of Mansfield c. 1773, then by descent; private collection, 1922, then by descent; Richard Coles (Godson & Coles), 2011. An Art Loss Register search has been carried out.