Bookcase

1815 circa

GEORGE BULLOCK, 1777-1818

This bookcase is most likely the work of George Bullock. It was owned by the great postmodernist architect James Stirling.

IN DETAIL

Dimensions

109,8 x 173 x 49 cm

Technique

Oak and ebony wood inlays

Description

Martin Levy was the first to note that the design for this bookcase is found in the so-called ‘Wilkinson Tracings’, held at the City Museums and Art Gallery in Birmingham, and which are the basis for the rediscovery of Bullock’s work. Typically, the designer included a plinth for sculptures at the center of this type of furniture.

 

In the 1980s, the library was purchased by James Stirling, a postmodernist architect who was also a pioneer in collecting Regency furniture. After Stirling’s death, between 2000 and 2015, it was on loan to the National Trust of Scotland. It was subsequently acquired by Philip Hewat-Jaboor and in 2024 entered the collections of Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi, who specifically chose it for the green room on the second floor of Palazzo Butera.