Endnotes

¹ Algernon Roberts and Percival Roberts, Sr. established Pencoyd Ironworks, which operated from 1852–1944.

² Duveen Brothers was established 1874, closed 1973.

³ William Morrison. “Penshurst, Narberth,” The Main Line: Country Houses of Philadelphia's Storied Suburb, 1870–1930 (New York: Acanthus Press, 2002), 81.

⁴ Roberts et al. v. Lower Merion Township, 333 Pa. 333, 5 A.2d 106 (Pa. 1939).

⁵ Several accounts of Penshurst’s history inform my summary above. See John M. Groff, “The First 300: Percival Roberts’ Penshurst,” The Lower Merion Historical Society, n.d., https://lowermerionhistory.org/?page_id=187261; William Morrison, “Penshurst, Narberth,” The Main Line: Country Houses of Philadelphia's Storied Suburb, 1870–1930 (New York: Acanthus Press, 2002); “Penshurst, Also Known As: Penshurst Farm," The Lower Merion Historical Society, https://lowermerionhistory.org/?page_id=188827&estate=penshurst.

⁶ Jonathan Fairbanks’s “Furniture Collection at Barnes” (2003) provides the only reference to the armchairs; even then, it is a cursory statement. See Jonathan Leo Fairbanks, "The Furniture Collection in the Barnes Foundation” (Internal Barnes Foundation document: unpublished, 2003), 9–10.

⁷ The Barnes Foundation Archives contains later correspondence with the Duveen Brothers discussing a potential (and unsuccessful) purchase of an El Greco painting. See Duveen Brothers, 1922. Albert C. Barnes Correspondence, Barnes Foundation Archives, Philadelphia, AR.ABC.1922.4b.

⁸ “Articles Purchased from the Percival Roberts, Jr. Sale held at Samuel T. Freeman & Co., Philadelphia, February 6, 1939,” Samuel T. Freeman & Co., invoices, 1939, Financial Records, Barnes Foundation Archives, Philadelphia.

⁹ Edward Fowles, Memories of Duveen Brothers (London: Times Books, 1976), 2.

¹⁰ The Duveen Brothers spent a significant amount on “Improvement of Stock” services: engraving, repairing, upholstering, and clockmaking; supplies: wood, silver re[poussé], and glass; and artisan labor, listed as staff, individual names, or wages. See “Paris Stock Book 22, 1934–1936.” Duveen Brothers records, 1876–1981. Series I. Business records. Series I.C. Paris House, Getty Research Institute, 960015 (bx.114). http://hdl.handle.net/10020/960015b114f002. 35–39, 42–45.

¹¹ Vignon is the director of the Department of Heritage and Collections at Sèvres - Manufacture et Musée Nationaux and the former curator of decorative arts for The Frick Collection. See Charlotte Vignon, “ 3. Issues of Restoration, Authenticity, and Expertise,” Duveen Brothers and the Market for Decorative Arts, 1880–1940 (New York: The Frick Collection in association with D. Giles Ltd., London, 2019), 98.

¹² Vignon, “Issues of Restoration,” 99.

¹³ Meryle Secrest, “Paintings, Sculpture, and Objects Sold or Donated by Joseph Duveen, 1900–1939: A Partial List,” Duveen: A Life in Art (New York: Knopf, 2004), 405.

¹⁴ A brief mention of Percival Roberts, Jr. is buried in the Duveen Brothers correspondence with White Allom & Co. Allom writes to the Duveens on November 15, 1912: “Dear Sirs [Duveen Brothers], / We shall be much obliged if you will kindly send the pair of lustre wall lights which were returned from Mr. Percival Roberts to 19, East 52 Street.” This letter postdates the construction of Penshurst but may suggest the existence of an established working relationship between Roberts, Duveen, and Allom. See “Correspondence: White Allom & Co., 1911–1916.” See Duveen Brothers Records, 1876–1981. Series II. Correspondence and papers. Series II.E. Correspondence and papers regarding scouts, dealers, restorers, and collectors, Getty Research Institute, 960015 (bx.385, f 1), http://hdl.handle.net/10020/960015b385f001, 13.

¹⁵ Most sets of four and six chairs are in “London Stock Book 6, Aug. 1898–Sep. 1899.” Duveen Brothers Records, 1876–1981. Series I. Business records. Series I.B. London House, Getty Research Institute, 960015 (bx.56), see 11, 12, 37, 68, 92; For the Paris stock books, see “Paris Stock Book 12 (?), 1895–1896.” Duveen Brothers Records, 1876-1981. Series I. Business records. Series I.C. Paris House, Getty Research Institute, 960015 (bx.96). http://hdl.handle.net/10020/960015b096. “Paris Ledger 1, Avril 1908–Mai 1913.” Duveen Brothers Records, 1876–1981. Series I. Business records. Series I.C. Paris House, Getty Research Institute, 960015 (bx.73). http://hdl.handle.net/10020/960015b073. 279–87, 301, 545.

¹⁶ One London stock book lists “4 modern chair frames” that were intended for shipment to or from New York in 1899—this suggests that the Duveens had an earlier partnership with Allom. It is entirely possible that Duveen purchased the armchair frames in London. See “London Stock Book 6, Aug. 1898–Sep. 1899,” p. 301.

¹⁷ R. R. Treganza, “Petit-Point or Needle Tapestry: The Revival of an Ancient and Picturesque Form of Wool Embroidery.” Arts & Decoration 4:1 (1913), 25–26.

¹⁸ Fowles, Memories of the Duveen Brothers, 19.

¹⁹ Vignon, “Duveen Brothers,” 102.

²⁰ Vignon notes that the Duveens’ actively distanced themselves with those producing and selling fakes, apart from Alfred André regarding restoration. See Vignon, “Duveen Brothers,” 103.