A George III white painted pine chimneypiece circa 1770, possibly designed by Robert Adam

the horizontal frieze with ribboned bellflower swags alternating with paterae, flanked by larger paterae above carved anthemion corbels issuing graduated foliate pendants

Overall this chimney piece is in good condition. The piece appears to have been dry stripped and the paint appears largely original and is attractive but with characteristic losses throughout. Some minor chips. Inset modern.
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The present chimney piece relates closely to two drawings for chimney pieces in the Adelphi Terrace, London by Robert Adam now in the collection of the Soane Museum, London, see illustrations.  One drawing is entitled ` East Wing / Chimney Piece for the front  Parlor 5th House' and was conceived to be in carved wood, according to the notes on it. The other chimney piece is entitled `Chimney Piece for the Drawing Room in the end House, Body of the Building. All Marble'.

As both of these drawings include features such as the finely carved swag and husk motifs on the frieze, the paterae heading the jambs and the husk motifs on the jambs themselves, it would seem likely that the present chimney piece was also designed by Robert Adam for one of the houses in the Adelphi Buildings.

Adephi buildings was a block of unified neo classical houses occupying the land between The Strand and the river Thames, in the parish of St Martin in the Fields. They were designed and built by Robert Adam on land obtained from the Duke of Albans in 1768. The development was an extremely elegant development of neo classical town houses which eventually were occupied by such well known figues as the great actor David Garrick and Thomas Coutts of the banking dynasty. Robert Adam was influenced by his extensive visit to Diocletian`s Palace in Dalmatia, and applied some of this influence to the designs of the Adelphi buildings, (see Arthur T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Country Life, 1922, 2 vols., reprinted 1984, Vol. II., pp.18-47).   Sadly much were demolished in the early 1930s. 

The present chimney piece is exceptionally well-carved suggesting that it could well have been executed by a carver such as Sefferin Nelson, or George Burns both of whom worked closely with Robert Adam on various schemes including Lansdowne House and Kenwood House in London.