A William and Mary carved giltwood cherub late 17th century, the design possibly Grinling Gibbons, the carving attributed to the workshop of Samuel Watson

now mounted on a George III carved gilt-wood boss attributed to Seffrin Nelson, probably brought together during the first quarter of the nineteenth century to become the supporter for a fire screen

Very decorative. The gilding is worn with ingrained dirt throughout. There are losses to the hands. There are age cracks to the body and arms. The base has many chips and losses to the foliate decoration.
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This carved cherub accords with those for the Balcony overdoors in the Chapel created for the 1st Duke between 1687 and 1693. Three related designs are contained in Watson's book Designs, Bills and Agreements, illustrated below.

Gervase Jackson-Stops, 'Duke of Creation', Country Life, 7th April 1994, pp. 56-57 writes that the traditional attribution of Grinling Gibbons as a wood carver at Chatsworth was 'too readily dismissed'. He attributes a drawing to Gibbons, previously given to Watson, for the carving and panelling of the chapel gallery featuring the cherub overdoor surmounts. This drawing is clearly the basis for the executed work. 

The cherubs installed at Chatsworth and the offered lot relate closely to a commission for a font cover at the Church of All-Hallows-by-the-Tower, London for which Gibbons was paid £12. This cover with a pair of cherubs centred by a cascade of foliage is illustrated by Frederick Oughton F.R.S.A, Grinling Gibbons & The English Woodcarving Tradition, Hertford, 1979, p. 162.

Oughton (op. cit. p. 135) writes that 'He [Gibbons] was employed under Watson at Chatsworth' and Samuel White Watson, the grandson of Watson, is recorded as saying that Watson 'Assisted Gibbons in the carving of the Chapel'. It was though, Watson who invoiced for 'ye carvings at Chatsworth Chappell [sic]' which included carving 'ye twin Cherubs and Draperies in the middle Panell of ye Neech, 50s' and George Vertue, visiting Chatsworth in 1725 commented in his notebook 'the Ornaments Carv'd in wood & foliages by Watson sculptor in wood & stone, the boys in the chappell & other parts of his work. Very fine. He learn't but work't & lived at Chatsworth for ** years, a most ingenious artist'.

Oughton (op. cit. p. 137) also writes that Watson was a collector of designs and 'spent most of his working life making drawings of other carver's work, including some of Gibbons reredos in St. James, Piccadilly'.

Also worthy of comparison is an overmantel dating to 1700 in the Queen's Gallery at Hampton Court Palace by John van Nost (or Ost) which displays carved cherubs of very similar form to the offered lot and is illustrated in Alison Kelly, The Book of English Fireplaces, London, 1968, p. 52, fig. 54.