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House of Details: The Apartment of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth

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Living Room, Robert Hatfield Ellsworth apartment, New York

William Cullum is our guest author for this House of Details, part of a series where we look at key elements that create great houses. Wiliam is a decorator at Jayne Design Studio, and currently working on a commission for a light house in Oyster Bay and a house in Dallas. He writes today about the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth apartment, whose exceptional collection of art and antiques are coming up for sale at Christies.


The collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, considered one of the largest and most important assemblages of Asian antiquities, is being offered at Christie’s as a six part sale beginning March 17th through the March 21st. To celebrate the event, the scale and quality of which is unlikely to be seen again, Christie’s offered guided tours of this storied apartment on Fifth Avenue. Ellsworth purchased the 22 room apartment in 1975 and furnished it with his collection of Asian antiques, English and Continental decorative arts and contemporary Asian works of art. In the process, he created a distinct and modern way of displaying these objects.

Ellsworth’s professional career began with his introduction to Alice Boney, a well respected dealer of Asian antiquities, in his late adolescence. She fostered his interests by encouraging him to study at the Yale Graduate School of Far Eastern Languages in 1948. Shortly thereafter Ellsworth began collecting twentieth century Chinese paintings leading to a lifetime of interest in the decorative arts of Asia.

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The apartment’s 1920s character is most prominently displayed in the gallery where the walls are lined with faux baronial woodwork. The paneling serves as a backdrop for a collage of a broad range of decorative arts. A series of pillar carpets are seen on the floors.

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In a nod to the twentieth century, a mounted Ibex skull on a silvered base by Anthony Redmile sits atop a chest next to the entrance to the library.

Ellsworth dealt with the awkwardly long gallery by separating the space with a Chinese side table, an extremely unusual example with a white lacquer top. White, symbolic of death in Chinese culture, implies that this may have served a funerary function.

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A Tielimu recessed-leg side table, Pingtou’an, China, Late Ming - Early Quing, 17th - 18th Century.

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The library owes a heavy debt to Ellsworth’s collection of 18th century English furniture. However, the strongest and most dynamic element is the ‘Nine Dragon’ Chinese carpet, most likely a 19th century copy of a 17th century original.

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Carpets were removed when the emperor was not in residence, requiring each to be labeled with the name of it’s respective room.

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Colonel William Fitch’s Horse in a Landscape by John Singleton Copley surmounts a French chimney piece with an assemblage of sculptural objects ranging from Africa to Asia.

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Ellsworth’s desk took advantage of the sweeping view from the library through the living room, framing a calligraphy table on the far wall which displayed a prized scholar’s rock.

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The library’s subtle decorative paint was inspired by an 18th century Chinese Qing Dynasty brush pot with an unusual glaze which simulated realgar, a mineral believed to hold magical qualities.

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The living room’s pale silk walls and golden yellow strie millwork serve as foils to the darkly colored gallery and library. A suite of Billy Baldwin-esque sofas, chairs, and stools counter the skeletal quality of the Chinese chairs and tables.

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A pair of six paneled Japanese screens, Edo period 17th century, depicting horses in stables and a rare set of four huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs, China, Ming Dynasty, were divided into two separate seating groups on either side of the room.  

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A rare and important set of four huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs, China, Ming Dynasty, 17th century, the chair form is known as quanyi, literally meaning “chair with a circular back”

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Ellsworth’s first purchase, acquired during his adolescence, was this large Chinese polychrome figure of a seated Bodhisattva from the Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234 AD) which was framed by two windows that looked out to Fifth Avenue.

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The dining room was centered on a Georgian dining table and brass chandelier which was lit with candles. The Chinese velvet-clad screen obscured a door into the butler’s pantry and undoubtedly served as inspiration for the unusual moss-green walls.

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A Chinese cut-velvet three panel screen, the fabric late Ming - early Qing Dynasty, 17th - 18th century.

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In a very typical Ellsworth manner, the chimney piece was arranged with a variety of objects from differing periods and cultures. A portrait attributed to Nattier presided over the room.

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A large and rare huanghuali recessed leg painting table dating from the Ming Dynasty with a pair of rare huanghuali lampstands from the same period on either side. The table dressed with a collection of British silver.

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The entrance into the living room from the dining room was flanked by a pair of large Hongmu, Huamu and camphor compound cabinets, late Ming - early Qing Dynasty, 17th century.

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Ellsworth in his living room.

Christie’s sale, The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, March 17 to 21, 2015 

Photos courtesy of Christies