Newbridge House was built by Archbishop Cobbe between 1747
and 1752 to the design of architect James Gibbs.
Wall bracket with figure of Apollo, attributed to John
Cheere, plaster, 1758, with a replica of its pair moulded from Felbrigg Hall,
Cobbe (Photo by Alexey Moskvin).
In 1758, during a sojourn in London, the couple had bought
quantities of porcelain, both Chinese and English Bow and Derby. Exceptionally
large Chinese pots decorated in rouge de fer, have Thomas’s initials fired into
the inside of the lids, so were probably a special commission. On their
journeys to Bath they stopped over in Worcester, visiting the newly established
porcelain works and commissioning one of the largest Worcester dessert and
dinner services on record, complete with matching porcelain handles fitted to
Irish cutlery. Some of the many rococo carved gilt looking glasses they had
made, were fitted with little platforms to display porcelain. China figures and
vases were also placed on gilt wall brackets, one incorporating a figure of
Apollo and a swan (doubly appropriate since the Cobbe heraldic devices are
swans). This must have originally had a pair with the figure of winged Victory,
since an original pair survive at Felbrigg; they are attributed to the London
sculptor John Cheere, and therefore the Cobbes probably bought theirs during
the 1758 visit to the capital.
https://www.igs.ie/updates/article/restrained-elegance-alec-cobbe
