Pair Of 18Th C Stone Tablets The 'Tehidy Plaques'

A glorious and important pair of mid 18th century, carved Portland stone wall tablets from Tehidy House, Cornwall. The deeply carved, classically inspired decoration depicting Amorini, riding chariots, pulled by goats or stags, the stags retaining their original lead antlers. Both tablets are in very good condition and can be wall mounted.

Known as ‘The Tehidy Plaques’, these tablets formed part of the original decoration of Tehidy House in Cornwall.

In 1734 John Pendarves Basset began building and landscaping a large country seat in the Neo-Palladian style, using the architect Thomas Edwards of Greenwich. After his death in 1739, Francis Basset of Turley inherited the seat and nearly completed the house, he died in 1769. It was then left to his heir Francis Basset ( 1757-1839) who became MP for Helston and later gained the peerage of Baron De Dunstanville of Tehidy in 1796. The estate stayed in the ownership of the Basset family until it was sold in 1916. It was at this point it became a hospital for tuberculosis sufferers, but suffered a major fire in 1919 that nearly destroyed the house. The house was partly rebuilt in 1922 and in what was originally the centre section of the main house, the basement walls that remained, were used to create a sunken garden, into which these tablets were relocated. The house was sold in 1988 and turned into luxury apartments. Architectural Heritage owned and sold these tablets around 2008 and they have remained in private ownership until now.

There is a wonderful and detailed history of Tehidy and the Basset family, that you can find on the House and Heritage website.

English mid 18th century