It sold for £56,000, the upper end of the auctioneers’ estimate, to London dealers Jeremy Ltd against telephone underbidding.
An extra attraction of this stylish piece of English neoclassicism is that it is thought to be one of a pair from Hope’s own house at Deepdene, Dorking, Surrey.
A giltwood settee of antique inspiration
UK: This 3ft 81/2in (1.13m) wide giltwood settee of antique inspiration, based on a design in Thomas Hope’s Household Furniture and Interior Decoration of 1807, went under the hammer at Gorringes’ sale in Lewes on June 6.