Mallett Spring Catalogue 2013 by Mallett

2013

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MALLETT & SON (ANTIQUES) LTD, ELY HOUSE, 37 DOVER STREET, LONDON W1S 4NJ TEL: +44 (0)20 7499 7411 FAX: +44 (0)20 7495 3179 info@mallettantiques.com ALSO IN NEW YORK AT 929 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK NY 10021

www.mallettantiques.com

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Introduction Exceptional pieces of English Furniture have become ever more scarce and the search to discover them ever more arduous. The knowledgeable collector requires both patience and luck to satisfy his taste for elegance and beauty, as the building of a great collection can take several decades. This year, we are most fortunate to have the opportunity of offering pieces from a number of private collections, which have been patiently built on a love of beautiful woods and English history. One of these collections spans the early years of the 18th century and concentrates on walnut. One of the highlights is the extraordinary Master’s chair on page 134. This chair is surprisingly comfortable, although its proportions look as if designed for a giant. Actually, it was commissioned for an anti-French society, formed after the rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the last of the invaders of England to fight on English soil. Equally fascinating is the cabinet made from cocus wood, a native species of Jamaica and Cuba, on page 138. This eye catching wood is cut to resemble oyster shells and it veneers a cabinet full of secret drawers, each as hard to discover as the pearl inside an oyster. Another collection focuses on the middle years of the 18th century, during which foreign hardwoods dominated English cabinetmaking. This bourgeoning international trade is well illustrated by the unique set of twelve chairs on page 161, made from Huang Huali, the most desired and sought after rosewood in China. These were commissioned by an English merchant from walnut models, which Mallett handled some twenty-five years ago. Further unique furniture from private collections can also be seen on page 128-29. These four lacquer armchairs are extremely rare survivals, in remarkable condition, from the short reign of Yuang Chen, as is the pair of ivory and rosewood centre tables on page 26-29. These tables, with their elaborate Chimera masks, emulate English furniture designs, such as those by William Kent with similar architecture and plumed Indian head masks. It has been suggested, after much debate at TEFAF Maastricht, that these tables might have been produced for the Emperor of China’s old summer palace, Yuan Ming Yuan. We are continuing to research this fascinating attribution, which illustrates the changing tastes and aesthetic adaptations created by international trade. As always the team at Mallett looks forward to seeing you at both our galleries in London and New York, as well as our own fair, Masterpiece London, this summer. I would also like to thank Ms Lucy Wood, former senior curator in the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, from 2002-11, for her much valued assistance with this catalogue.

Giles Hutchinson Smith Chief Executive

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A PRISONER-OF-WAR SHIP MODEL OF HMS ‘BRITANNIA’ Constructed throughout in bone and horn, armed with 106 miniature guns and fully rigged, with standing and running rigging, and with its yards crossed, this fine and well-proportioned model exhibits ‘French prisoner-of-war’ work at its best. Great attention to detail is evident in the carving of the model’s stern and figurehead and in the fenestration of the stern-cabins’ windows as well as in the provision of its deck fittings, including the capstan and windlass, the ship’s bell and belfry, the poop-deck skylight and the hatch covers and even down to miniature belaying pins. Three ships’ boats are present, two slung outboard between the mainmast and foremast and one slung beneath the stern: all are as well-made and detailed as is the model. The metal barrels of the miniature guns on the quarterdeck and foc’sle are mounted on bone truck-carriages and the guns on the lower and middle gun-deck retract through their open port-lids when the toggles beneath the stern are pulled. The model wears a Union flag at its fore-top and the ensign of the white squadron from an ensign staff rigged at its stern; a commissioning pendant is worn from the main-top. France, circa 1795 Height:31in/79cm Width: 41in/103.5cm Depth: 17½in/45cm O3D0066

LITERATURE

E.C. Freeston, Prisoner of War Ship Models 1775-1825. Lymington, 1973. H.S. Lecky, The King’s Ships. London, 1913; Vol. I, pp. 297-300. C.L. Lloyd, The Arts and Crafts of Napoleonic and American Prisoners of War 1756-1816. Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2007. R. Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 17931817. London, 2005, pp. 1-2.

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Model ships attributed to French prisoners-of-war exist in most national maritime collections in Britain; some have crossed the Atlantic to public and private collections in North America. These models vary in quality from the most basic and crude examples of the genre to the most sophisticated and beautifully made: our example clearly belongs in the latter category – as manifest in the extraordinary wealth of detail exhibited – and it is exceptionally rare to find a model of this quality outside a museum.

during the period 1793-1815, the French prisoners do seem to have been the most organised and the most entrepreneurial in the manufacture of goods. Thus, while not all ‘prisoner of war’ models, whether of ships, or boxes, calvaries, spinning wheels or skeleton clocks, may necessarily be French, it is a fact that the French formed the majority among Britain’s prisoners of war; so there will always be a significantly greater proportion of such items that were made by French inmates of the prison camps or hulks.

It was the long period of war against, principally, France from 1793 to 1815 that resulted in so many ‘prisoner of war’ items finding their way onto the market in Britain during those two decades and in the centuries afterwards. The majority of French prisoners – some 200,000 in the two decades of war against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France – were taken during Britain’s victories at sea between the Battle of 1st June 1794 and that of Trafalgar on 25th October 1805: most of those prisoners were seamen. However, the conscription system employed by France to man her ships meant that many of those taken aboard French ships had not been trained to the sea or even lived by the sea: many possessed talents learned in other, land-based, employment prior to conscription to the French Navy. When those talents were combined with the knowledge and the maritime skills of the large number of imprisoned seamen kept in close confinement on a prison ‘hulk’ floating in an English harbour, in a prison camp or in a newly-built prison in any one of several dozen locations in England or Scotland, there was a ready-made skill-base for the production of items for sale. The manufacture and sale of attractive, or useful, items was a very necessary part of the average prisoner’s life in wherever he was confined, since the proceeds from the sales allowed the prisoners’ meagre rations to be supplemented. This practice rapidly became established in the land-based prisoner of war camps in Britain, to the extent that, in many of them, weekly markets were held in which prisoners were allowed to sell or to barter what they had made in exchange for money or for food. British traders also attended these markets, frequently buying the prisoners’ goods for onward sale or exchanging food for the models and other trinkets made by the inmates. The ‘French Prisoner of War Ship Model’, often in bone and frequently in a combination of materials, became the item most often associated with Britain’s French prisoners. Although the manufacture of models and other curiosities was not confined to French prisoners – especially since Britain was at war with most of Europe as well as with the United States of America at one time or another

Our model, although named ‘Britannia’, would not have been intended accurately to represent the British warship of that name that was afloat at the time when our model was made: its size, armament and name probably reflect a desire on the part of its maker, or makers, to enhance its attractiveness and thus saleability to a potential buyer. It is quite possible, though, that the maker or makers of our model had seen, or even fought against, the H.M.S. BRITANNIA of the time, since she had participated in two of the great fleet actions closely associated with Britain’s most famous admiral – Horatio Nelson. The H.M.S. BRITANNIA of the period was the fourth British warship to bear the name: ordered in 1751, she was launched in 1762 as a First Rate of the ‘Royal George’ class, originally mounting 100 guns and with a ship’s company of 850 men. Engaged during the War for American Independence in the two expeditions to relieve Gibraltar, in 1781 and 1782, she also participated in the capture of a French merchant fleet off Ushant in 1781. In 1793, as flagship of Vice-Admiral William (later Lord) Hotham, she served at the capture of Toulon and continued as Hotham’s flagship in the Mediterranean until late in 1795, seeing action in that year against the French off Genoa and off Hyères. In February 1797, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Charles Thompson MP, she was engaged at the Battle of Cape St Vincent – at which Thompson was second-in-command of the fleet at the battle in which Nelson boarded and captured two Spanish men-of-war; in April 1797, the ship was present at the blockade and bombardment of Cadiz. In October 1805, H.M.S. BRITANNIA was the flagship of Rear Admiral Lord Northesk, initially third-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 25th of that month at which Nelson was killed, but she was laid up at Plymouth in 1806 and saw no further active service. She was renamed PRINCESS ROYAL and then ST. GEORGE in 1812 and served as a prison ship between 1813-14, finally serving as the flagship of Admiral Sir John Duckworth, Bart., GCB, MP at Plymouth in 1815. Re-rated with 104 guns in 1817, she was renamed BARFLEUR in 1817 and broken up in 1825.

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A CHARLES X CARTEL CLOCK An early 19th century tôle circular wall clock, with painted decoration of gold vine leaves and grapes on a red ground, the white enamel face within an ormolu border signed ‘Bovard à Paris’ (active 1806-1830), surmounted by a brass finial and brass ring support. France, circa 1820 Height: 16½in/42cm Depth: 4½in/12cm Diameter: 12½in/31.5cm

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› A GEORGE II CUT GLASS CHANDELIER An extremely rare George II period cut glass twelve light chandelier, the main receiver plate supporting twelve slip over, notched cut candle arms arranged on two levels each supporting drop hung drip pans. The receiver bowl cut with incised diamonds, the main baluster shaped shaft finely cut with flat and relief diamond cutting. The shaft is centred by a magnificent ball of large proportions, which is surmounted by a corresponding smaller ball. The shaft is unusual with a two drop hung canopy, the corresponding lower canopy surmounted by a lapidary and flat cut finial. England, circa 1750

O3B0341

Height: 64in/163cm Width: 59in/150cm L3B0432

Chandeliers of this early period are extremely rare with very few examples existing today; one of similar style with ball shafts and diamond-cut drops was formerly in the Thomastown Chapel of County Kilkenny and now forms part of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. LITERATURE

M. Mortimer, The English Glass Chandelier. Antique Collector’s Club Ltd., 2001, plate 26. R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture. Country Life Ltd (Revised Edition), 1954, p.336, fig.23.

A chandelier formerly in the Thomastown Chapel, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London

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A SILVER NUTMEG HOLDER

A PAIR OF CHINESE OIL PAINTINGS

A rare late 19th century silver condiment holder in the form of a nutmeg, the hinged handle lifting the leaf-shaped lid, on a stand of twigs. By Hukin & Heath. England, circa 1890

A pair of early 19th century Chinese oil paintings one depicting an interior scene with figures overlooking a lily pond, the other with ladies reading by a lakeside. China, circa 1820

Height: 5½in/14cm Width: 5in/13cm Depth: 3in/8cm

Height: 20in/51cm Width: 25½in/65cm P3C0155

O3C0322

Nutmeg has been greatly prized in Europe for both cooking and medicine since early medieval times. The Banda Islands in Indonesia were the world's only source of nutmeg until the early 19th century and many countries fought over the supply and trade of nutmeg throughout the centuries. During the 17th century, the Dutch gained control of the nutmeg trade and retained this monopoly until after the Second World War. When the British lost the second Anglo-Dutch War in 1676, the Dutch preferred to retain the island of Run and their monopoly on nutmeg than possession of New Amsterdam, conceding the island of Manhattan to the British. Because nutmeg was such a precious spice, costing around 90 shillings per pound in 1760, the same as a pair of pistols, it has always been prized and stored, like jewelry, in highly worked boxes such as this. Established in Birmingham in 1855, the firm of Hukin & Heath specialised as silversmiths and electroplaters, producing perhaps their best pieces between the 1870s and 1890s, many of which were made to the designs of Dr. Christopher Dresser.

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A WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF A SHEPHERD A finely carved statue of a shepherd resting on his staff with a fleece over his shoulder, the reverse of the tree stump signed ‘R.I. Wyatt Fecit ROME’. England, circa 1840 Height: 57½in/146cm Width: 21in/53cm Depth: 19½in/50cm O3C0101

©Royal Academy of Arts, London

John Gibson RA, Cupid Disguised as a Shepherd, ca. 1837 Pen, ink and wash on wove paper.

Richard James Wyatt (1795-1850) was born into a family of sculptors, carvers and architects in London, and went on to become one of the most famous English neo-classical sculptors of the first half of the 19th century. He enrolled at the Royal Academy School, winning a silver medal in 1815 for the best model from life, before relocating to Paris in 1820 where he spent a period in the studio of distinguished sculptor Baron François-Joseph Bosio. Although only spending a year under his guidance, Wyatt was undoubtedly influenced by Bosio’s technique of creating a beautifully smooth, warm surface in his subjects, apparent in the gentle execution of this shepherd. In 1821, Wyatt moved to Rome and was introduced to the sculptor, Antonio Canova, via the portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. Canova, then the most famous sculptor of his time, invited Wyatt into his studio where he met another talented sculptor, John Gibson, who had already been working in Rome for four years. Following Canova’s death in 1822, Gibson and Wyatt worked briefly under Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen before setting up independently, opposite each other, on Via della Fontanella Barberini. They became lifelong friends, and it is perhaps not surprising that this sculpture relates quite closely to Gibson’s ‘Cupid Disguised as a Shepherd Boy’ – commissioned for Sir John Johnstone and exhibited at the Royal Academy, of which subsequent full-sized replicas were made for Tsar Alexander II and Sir Robert Peel. Wyatt’s own success began with a commission from the Duchess of Devonshire in 1822, followed by the later patronage of Queen Victoria, for whom he carved several pieces including a portrait bust of the Queen herself. Consistently classical and in the tradition of Canova, Wyatt was a highly accomplished and sought-after sculptor whose works were much revered for their purity of taste, composition, and exquisite surface finish. His importance lies not only in his own work, but also in the profound influence that he and Gibson exercised over domestic English art during the 19th century. LITERATURE

Eastlake, Lady, ed. Life of John Gibson, RA. Sculptor. London, 1870. J. M. Robinson, The Wyatts: An Architectural Dynasty. Oxford, 1979.

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A RARE WALNUT BUREAU BOOKCASE A George I parcel gilt burr-walnut bureau bookcase in the manner of Giles Grendey. The upper part with a broken classical pediment enclosing a giltwood heraldic foliate shield with cartouche shaped mirrored door below with gilt gesso edge. The lower part, of rare bombé form, has a sloping rest opening to reveal a fitted interior with a central mirrored cupboard and unusual curved drawers to each side. The two short drawers and three graduated long drawers beneath the sloped front are richly mounted with gilded handles and escutcheons, flanked by gilded corner mounts on the bombé frame. The whole stands on ogee bracket feet. England, circa 1740 Height: 94in/239cm Width: 35in/89cm Depth: 24in/61cm F3B0255

A bureau cabinet supplied by Giles Grendey for the Duke of Infantado’s castle at Lazcano, northern Spain

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The present bureau cabinet compares closely to a larger scale bureau bookcase also at Mallett (see our 2012 Spring catalogue, pp123-125). They both combine the unusual attributes of a bombé lower section, gilt-gesso ornament and gilt-brass corner mounts. The broken pediment and cartouche shaped framing to the mirror panel used in conjunction with elaborate rocaille gilt-brass mounts are consistent with the output of a leading London cabinet-maker. In particular they correlate with those found on a documented bureau cabinet from a celebrated red japanned suite of furniture supplied by the cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (1693-1780) to the Duke of Infantado for his castle at Lazcano, near San Sebastian, northern Spain (see Christopher Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, p.247, pl.447). This cabinet is illustrated in Lanto Synge’s Mallett’s Great English Furniture 1991, p.50, pl. 44. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1996, p.247, pl.447).

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A SET OF FOUR STEEL FIRE TOOLS

A CHARLES X CHANDELIER

A charming set of four late 19th century polished steel fire tools, comprising of a pair of tongs a shovel, a log fork and a log hook. England, circa 1880

A highly unusual Charles X gilt bronze and cut glass globe chandelier. The upper corona has a boldly cut glass centre and is framed with over-scale gilt bronze feather elements, the elaborate chain is inset with cut glass drops which support the six scrolling trumpet form arms, at the centre of which is a winged caryatid. The central globe is in two sections and is diamond cut, the whole terminates in a pomegranate gilt bronze finial. France, circa 1810

Height: 42Â˝/108cm O3D0024

Height: 51in/130cm Width: 25in/64cm L3B0295

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A WILLIAM AND MARY WRITING DESK A rare late 17th century desk with a sloping top forming a writing-slide and enclosing four small drawers, supported by six spirally-turned legs and ball feet. The whole is decorated with seaweed marquetry inlay, primarily in holly on a veneered walnut ground; the turned legs being left in plain walnut. England, circa 1690 Height: 34in/87cm Width: 25in/64cm Depth: 18½in/47cm Depth open: 32in/81cm F3D0011

PROVENANCE

Colonel H. H. Mulliner Collection, Christie’s London, 1924. LITERATURE

Illustrated in H. H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England: 1660 – 1780. London, 1923, figs. 46-47.

The writing table as illustrated in Mulliner’s The Decorative Arts in England: 1660-1780

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A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT STOOL

A GILTWOOD MIRROR

A fine Queen Anne rectangular walnut stool on cabriole legs with pad feet and scrolls at the knees, the seat covered in fine needlework of the period with floral decoration highlighted in blue, with strapwork on a dark brown ground. England, circa 1710

A George II carved giltwood and gesso pier mirror of architectural form, the swan-neck broken pediment centred by a carved shell, the frame carved with an outer egg and dart moulding finishing in a voluted base, above a lower section with a centred shell flanked by flowered paterae. England, circa 1750

Height: 17Â˝in/45cm Width: 23in/58cm Depth: 17in/44cm

Height: 54in/137cm Width: 32in/81cm

F3C0234

F3C0349

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A PAIR OF IVORY AND ROSEWOOD TABLES An unusual pair of mid 18th century side tables, the rectangular tops inlaid with marquetry sections of bamboo forming a geometric pattern and framed by a frieze of similar design in ivory and rosewood. The sides of the top are inlaid into rosewood with ivory sections carved with a trellis pattern centred by swastikas and further decorated at intervals with circular Shou characters, symbolising longevity. The narrow waist designed with an alternating and reversing shortened T form, outlined in rosewood and inlaid with ivory carved with scrolling lotus leaves. The apron also outlined in hardwood, the lower border with geometric scrolls, the main field exuberantly carved with ivory sections of scrolling lotus leaves and reeling Chilong dragons, each side centred by a lotus flower from which point the design flows. The cabriole legs of square section and positioned on the angle, the outward facing two sides inlaid with ivory, the carved design continuing down from the apron. At the top of each leg, carved in rosewood, is a stylised chimera mask, descending to a high winged knee, terminating in outward curving horse’s hoof feet. China, circa 1740

A comparable ‘Lute’ table from the Ch’ien Lung period (17361796) is currently in the collection of Mr and Mrs Soame Jenyns. The top features an identical pattern of intricate bands of parquetry, the interlocking design of which is believed to have been inspired by an earlier Dutch veneer. LITERATURE

R. Soame Jenyns and W. Watson, Chinese Art, The Minor Arts, Vol II, Oldbourne Press, London, 1963, fig. 188.

Height: 34in/86cm Width: 53½in/136cm Depth: 22½in/57cm F3D0051

A ‘Lute’ table with an identical parquetry top

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A PAIR OF GEORGE II WALNUT CHAIRS A fine pair of George II walnut side chairs in the manner of Giles Grendey, the curved splat backs with burr walnut veneers of very fine rich colour, carved with scrolls and acanthus and flanked by shaped side rails, the top centred by a shell carved cresting, the compass drop-in seats covered in period gros and petit point needlework, raised on boldly carved cabriole front legs with a carved shell at each knee and ending in claw and ball feet, the back legs of curved and tapering form. England, circa 1735 Height: 40½in/103cm Width: 23in/58cm Depth: 22in/56cm F3C0259

These chairs relate very closely to a set by Giles Grendey, retaining his label, sold at Sotheby’s New York on November 21, 1981 (lots 233-235). A couple of other directly related examples to the Mallett pair include a single chair at Temple Newsam House, another from the collection of the Duchess of Wellington and one retaining Giles Grendey’s label, currently in the Carnegie Museum of Art. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall. 1978, vol.1 p.74, no. 56. R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture. 1954 vol. 1, p. 257. C.Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, 1996, p. 242

A single chair at Temple Newsam House of very similar design to the Mallett pair

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A GEORGE III GILTWOOD MIRROR A mid 18th century carved giltwood mirror, with broken pediment enclosing a scrolled cartouche and classical swags above Corinthian columns and a carved lower rail with egg and dart moulding. The mirror plate is replaced. Attributed to Francis and John Booker. Ireland, circa 1760 Height: 58in/147cm Width: 32in/81cm Depth: 5in/13cm F3C0090

This mirror, in the architectural style which clearly shows the strong influence of William Kent, is attributed to the firm of the Booker family who are believed to have come from Nottinghamshire in England but moved to Ireland in the late 17th century. The business of the ‘Looking Glass Merchant’ John Booker (d. 1750) was continued by his sons, Francis and John, from about 1750 and they are recorded in the ‘Dublin Directory’ between 1761 and 1772. Mirrors in this architectural style and bearing their trade label have been identified in Ireland and both the use of Corinthian columns and the pediment with a centred cartouche motif with floral swags suggest an attribution to the Booker workshop. LITERATURE

J. Peill and the Knight of Glin, Irish Furniture. Yale University Press, 2007.

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› A PAIR OF OVAL GLASS MIRRORS A very rare pair of small oval giltwood framed mirrors retaining their original plates surrounded by cabochon cut ‘jewels’ in the most unusual amethyst coloured glass. Ireland, circa 1780 Height: 28½in/72.5cm Width: 18½in/47cm F3C0366

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A PAIR OF 19TH CENTURY ELEPHANTS

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› A PAIR OF REGENCY LIBRARY

ARMCHAIRS A charming pair of mid 19th century carved ornamental elephants, their bodies painted with faux pearls, flowers and beads their heads with floral comparisons and their backs with stylised rugs adorned with bells, their feet and husks with gold bangles, each holding forest fruits in their trunks. Their Mahout’s equally dressed in enriched silk stylised gowns. Anglo-Indian, circa 1860 Height: 31½in/80cm Width: 14in/35cm Depth: 25½in/65cm O3C0313

Elephants in India are revered throughout the country. They have a strong spiritual attachment to many Indian faiths and are celebrated for their strength and honesty. In March is the festival of Holi Dahan, the festival of colour and joy when elephants are groomed, painted with exotic colours, and covered with bright textiles and gold bangles. These images can be seen in the literature and paintings deep within Indian history. The Mahouts or grooms would ride the elephants holding aloft flags displaying the villages and towns the elephants and their followers would have come from, not unlike a great sporting festival today.

A fine pair of large scale Regency armchairs of beechwood with painted decoration over the woodwork simulating rosewood; the backs with scroll-over top rails and scrolling uprights; the square seats caned and standing on turned front legs; the arms supported by turned uprights and all the woodwork enriched with gilt metal mounts, parts of it replaced, and the chairs standing on brass toes and castors; with upholstered backs, seat cushions and arm pads, covered with yellow-gold damask. England, circa 1820 Seat height: 14½in/37cm Back height: 37in/94cm Width: 23in/58cm Depth: 24½in/62cm F3C0228

When rosewood (Dalbergia) became a valued and fashionable wood for making furniture it was by no means always practical to use it in extensive quantities. There is a significant, and in itself interesting, body of furniture that was made to fit in with libraries, studies and boudoirs, made of other timbers painted to complement theatrically, rather than to deceive. Graining as a decorative form presents a splendid variation of ornamental conceits and can vary enormously from exact imitations to fanciful colours. In this case the paintwork is added relatively lightly over the surface rather than wholly covering the base wood.

A detail of a watercolour showing a royal procession at the Red Palace in Jaipur, with ceremonial elephants and their Mahouts dressed for the occasion

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A PAIR OF BRASS ANDIRONS

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› A PAIR OF GEORGE III MARQUETRY

COMMODES A pair of 19th century brass andirons of magnificent proportions, the central column with foliate decoration adorned with braziers and flames all supported on lions paw feet. England, circa 1880 Height: 37½in/95cm Width: 22½in/57cm O3C0202

A highly important pair of semi-elliptical marquetry and ormolu commodes, each with a central drawer and two hinged, sprung quadrant drawers in the frieze, over three graduated front drawers and two quadrant cupboards enclosing shelves, standing on four short legs with vaseshaped feet. Each commode is veneered with panels of harewood and West Indian satinwood, with tulipwood cross-banding, purplewood banding, and ‘white’ and ‘black’ stringing and cockbeads. The harewood and satinwood serve as dark and light grounds to the marquetry decoration of each commode, which centres on a coat of arms on the top (Birch impaling Ryves), surrounded by ribbon-tied husk festoons, crossed palms and foliate trails, with urns, semi-paterae, acanthus and further ribbon-tied husks on the frieze, the cupboard doors and the ‘pilasters’ that divide the cupboards from the front drawers. The lower drawers (veneered without marquetry) are each mounted with a pair of ormolu ring handles with pierced patera back-plates; and the architectural form is further defined by three horizontal ormolu mounts – gadrooning around the top, rosettes and ribbon beneath the frieze, and reed and ribbon at the bottom. The legs have shallow blocks of marquetry fluting above ormolu-mounted vase-shaped feet, clad in acanthus with ball terminals. Attributed to Ince & Mayhew. England, circa 1775 Height: 34½in/87cm Width: 59in/150cm Depth: 24½in/62cm F3C0206

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PROVENANCE

Supplied c. 1775-80 to Robert Birch (d. 1810) and his wife Catherine, née Ryves (d. 1819) – whose arms, impaled, are depicted on the top of each commode – probably for Turvey House, Donabate, co. Dublin. Perhaps Arthur S. Vernay, Inc. (before 1918), interior decorators to the next owner: Mrs Morton F. Plant (Mae or Maisy, née Caldwell, widowed 1918, from 1919 Mrs William Hayward, from 1954 Mrs John E. Rovensky, d. 1956), at the Plant Mansion, 5th Avenue and 86th Street, New York (probably by 1918, certainly by 1927); her posthumous sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 19 January 1957, lots 965 and 966. Claude Leigh (d. 1964), West Riddens, Cuckfield, West Sussex. A private collection, sold Christie’s London, 25 June 1981, lot 133; sold to another private collector, by whom sold Christie’s London, 5 July 2012, lot 33.

A drawing for the Derby House commode, designed by Robert Adam, 1774. (Original works in the Architecture of Robert and James Adam, vol. 11, 1779, pt. 1 pl. 8.)

These commodes are attributed to the large London cabinetmaking practice of Ince & Mayhew, established in Soho in 1759, who appear to have been responsible for a group of commodes of related design, decoration and technique. The attribution was first proposed by Hugh Roberts, comparing these pieces to the seminal Derby House Commode, which was designed by Robert Adam in 1774, for the Countess of Derby’s ‘Etruscan’ Dressing Room at her house in Grosvenor Square, and delivered by Ince & Mayhew the following year.1 The group of semicircular or semi-elliptical commodes all appear to be inspired by this important prototype, sharing with it the same bowfronted form, organised as a classically-proportioned architectural façade (a wide central bay between narrower upright bays, divided by ‘pilasters’ and surmounted by a frieze), the same repertoire of classical ornament (including ‘antique’ vases, husks, ribbon bows and paterae), similar techniques of marquetry (stained, engraved and filled with coloured mastics), and several recurring models of ormolu mount (gadrooned and reed-and-ribbon mouldings being especially favoured). The Irish history of these commodes has inevitably raised the question whether they could alternatively come from the workshop of William Moore, who had trained with Ince & Mayhew before moving back to Ireland in 1777 and setting up his own business in Dublin two years later.2 That the accredited output of the two firms has much in common is therefore to be expected. However, Moore is very unlikely to be responsible for the manufacture of these commodes, particularly in view of their very close relationship to the pair of small commodes discussed above, which are securely attributed to the London firm (though lacking direct documentation). Moore’s marquetry, while sharing certain motifs with Ince & Mayhew’s output, is generally less adventurous and less sophisticated in composition. Above all, the furniture attributed to Moore’s workshop is conspicuously bereft of ormolu mounts; whereas the mounts deployed here are all of models very characteristic of Ince & Mayhew. The majority of their mounts were almost certainly made in London, probably in or near their own premises. The difficulties of remotely co-ordinating the provision of mounts and cabinet-work are demonstrated by the correspondence between Ince & Mayhew in London and Boulton & Fothergill in Birmingham, over the Duchess of Manchester’s celebrated cabinet.3 Even for this piece, of a fairly simple rectilinear form, some of the mounts as first supplied did not fit and had to be altered, involving unwanted compromises. Any attempt to procure mounts to fit a bow-fronted facade,

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By that date he may have run into financial difficulties (partly alleviated by his appointment as Clerk of the Quick Rents for £150 a year). In 1768, however, he had loaned money to Viscount Kingsland, on the security of Turvey House, where he and his wife subsequently lived.5 This late seventeenth-century house of two storeys, nine bays wide, was altered at various stages in the eighteenth century.6 Birch seems to have made architectural improvements there in the early 1770s (the date 1773 was recorded on a Venetian window), and these could well have led to the commissioning of the present commodes. Whether they were an isolated order or part of a larger furnishing scheme has yet to be investigated. Much relevant evidence may have been lost in the demolition of the house itself, as recently as 1987.7 A small commode of similar high quality inlay also sold through Mallett LITERATURE

with precisely the right curvature, by correspondence between Dublin and London (or Birmingham) would doubtless have been a challenge too far. Robert Birch and Turvey House Robert Birch belonged to a different social spectrum from other known Irish clients of Ince & Mayhew, but this may be primarily a factor of the chance survival of archival records. His own patronage of the firm, after all, would be unknown but for the coat of arms proudly depicted on the commode tops. At the time of his marriage in 1759 he was described as ‘an eminent merchant of this City’ (Dublin) in Faulkner’s Dublin Journal.4 He later became an MP in the Irish Parliament, attracting uncomplimentary remarks in parliamentary sketches of 1782.

D.Nickerson, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1969, pp. 66-67, figs. 68-69. G. Beard and J. Goodison, English Furniture 1500-1840, Oxford, 1987, p.187, pl.4. F. Lewis-Hinckley, Hepplewhite, Sheraton & Regency Furniture, New York, 1987, p. 209, pl. 175, no. 348. A. S. Vernay, Decorations and English Interiors (New York, 1927), plate 36. H. Roberts, ‘The Derby House Commode’, Burlington Magazine, Vol. 127, No. 986 (May 1985), pp. 275-83 (pp. 280, 282, no. A.4, fig. 15) J. Peill and The Knight of Glin, Irish Furniture (New Haven and London, 2007), pp. 162–67 and figs 220-26; p. 256, cat. 208. E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors. London and New Haven, 2001, p.289-292.

Hugh Roberts, loc. cit. (see Literature). At the time of this publication the arms on these commodes had not been identified and hence their origin was unknown.

The Knight of Glin and James Peill, Irish Furniture (New Haven and London, 2007), pp. 162-67 and figs 220-26; p. 256, cat. 208.

Lindsay Boynton, ‘An Ince and Mayhew Correspondence’, Furniture History, Vol. 2 (1966), pp. 23-26. Nicholas Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu. London, 2002, pp. 247-54 and figs 200-07. 3

See Christie’s catalogue entry, 5 July 2012, lot 33, for details about Robert Birch and Turvey House given here and below, except as noted.

Thomas King Moylan, ‘The Peninsula of Portrane: Part II’ (read to the Old Dublin Society 1948), Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 16. No. 2 (October 1960), pp. 37-49, pp. 45, 47.

Mark Bence-Jones, A Guide to Irish Country Houses, revised edition (1998), pp. 278, 305.

Bence-Jones, op. cit. (see note 13), p. 305. Bence-Jones makes no reference to Birch’s period of residence, nor to the date of 1773 recorded on the building (Thomas U. Sadleir and Page L. Dickinson, Georgian Mansions in Ireland (Dublin, 1915), pp. 86–88; cited by Christie’s (see note 11)).

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A PAIR OF J. W. CARY TERRESTRIAL AND CELESTIAL GLOBES A rare pair of George III globes by John and William Cary dated from 1799 and 1800, each sphere mounted in brass meridian within a horizon ring printed with scales for amplitude, azimuth, thirty two compass points and zodiac with the Latin names and symbols of the signs of the zodiac. Each horizon ring is supported by four brackets above a turned mahogany column and tripod base terminating in castors and stretcher retaining its original magnetic compass and printed compass rose. England circa 1800 Height: 48in/122cm Diameter: 28in/71cm O3C0159

The Cary family firm was regarded as England’s leading globe publishers from the early 1790s to its closure in 1850. It was run by brothers John and William Cary. John Cary (c. 1754-1835) was the engraver and businessman, while William Cary (c. 1760-1825) specialised in making mathematical instruments. The celebrated Cary family of cartographers and globe-makers produced some of the greatest late Georgian globes, and are often considered the best 19th century British globe-makers. The firm was founded in the late 18th century by John Cary, who often worked in partnership with his brother William Cary, a scientific instrument maker (selling as J. & W. Cary). The Cary brothers moved their business to 86 St. James’s Street in about 1820, leaving the premises at 181 The Strand to John Cary’s sons George (c. 1788-1859) and John Jr. (17911852). While most J. & W. Cary globes were produced from 1791 to 1816, some Cary globes were still issued in the 1820s under that name. Meanwhile, the family also produced a variety of globes under the name G. & J. Cary from the 1820s to about 1850. In 1850, George Frederick Cruchley, a map seller, took over a portion of the Cary business and produced maps and globes from 1850 to about 1876. Like two-dimensional cartography, globe-making flourished in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century as the Dutch expanded their exploration and sea trade. Over the course

of the seventeenth century, the balance of power gradually shifted towards France, and by the end of the eighteenth century, English cartographers and globe-makers were the most prominent. Most Western globes from the sixteenth century onwards were made from a sphere composed of papier maché and plaster, which was then covered with strips of paper, called gores, upon which the cartographic images had been printed beforehand. In some cases, gores that were never assembled into a globe have survived, displayed by some publishers in book form, as finished works of art in themselves. The innovation of assembling globes from gores streamlined and facilitated the process, and remained the favoured method of globe-making until the twentieth century. The method was developed in response to a cultural movement that treated globes as symbols of status, education, and wealth. These 21 inch diameter projections were the first of the largerscale globes which Cary produced. Interestingly, although they include all discoveries by Captains Cook and Vancouver, the central and western areas of North America remain unmapped, prior to Louis and Clark’s expedition in 1804. On the terrestrial globe, all areas west of the Mississippi up to the coast of California are identified only by Indian tribal names. Later printings included cartographic details from this expedition.

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Cary’s New TERRESTRIAL GLOBE the Tracks and Discoveries made by Captain Cook; Also those of Captain Vancouver on the North West Coast of America & M. De La Perouse, on the coast of Tartary. Together with every other Improvement collected from Various Navigators & Travellers to the present time. LONDON. Made and sold by J&W Cary, Strand, 1800

Cary’s New and Improved CELESTIAL GLOBE with an extensive number from the works of Miss Herschel. The whole adapted to the year 1800 and the limits to each constellation determined by a Boundary line. LONDON. Made and sold by J&W Cary, Strand, 1799

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A PEWTER INLAID BURR MAPLE BUREAU CABINET A fine burr maple bureau cabinet with inlaid pewter stringing throughout, the upper section with a moulded overhanging cornice above a pair of mirror glass doors; the base with a fall front opening and two short frieze drawers over three longer graduated drawers, the whole resting on bun feet. Attributed to the firm of Coxed & Woster. England, circa 1720 Height: 84in/213.5cm Width: 38in/96.5cm Depth: 23in/58.5cm F3D0007

In 1719 English cabinetmaker John Coxed (fl. 1711-1718) was succeeded by his widow Grace Coxed and Thomas Woster, (fl. 1719-1735), a relative by marriage of John. The firm Coxed & Woster, operated out of John Coxed’s former premises in St. Paul’s Churchyard until Thomas Woster’s death. Coxed & Woster carried on its predecessor’s reputation for fashioning pieces, namely the bureau and bureau-cabinet, that demonstrated a high-level of craftsmanship. Christopher Gilbert notes that precise dating of the firm’s furniture is challenging, but the earlier cabinets were primarily veneered in burr elm or maple. Coxed & Woster was also known for enriching the surface of their cabinets with the addition of inlaid-pewter stringing or cross-banding, evident with this cabinet. Several labelled examples of bureau cabinets attributed to Coxed & Woster, which are very similar to the present piece are illustrated in Gilbert’s Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, p. 154-157, figs. 236 and 245. An additional distinctive structural feature of this cabinet, which is also seen on other documented Coxed & Woster bureau bookcases, is that the top of the bureau section is veneered, despite having a waist moulding to accept the upper cabinet. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840. Leeds, 1996, p. 154-157, figs. 236, 245.

A burr-elm inlaid bureau cabinet of very similar design, circa 1700 by Coxed & Woster

Coxed & Woster’s trade label

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A DELFT BLUE AND WHITE TULIPIERE A rare early 18th century Delft blue and white tin-enamelled earthenware tulipiere, the four baluster shaped sections profusely decorated with patterns inspired by Chinese Ming porcelain, with bands of caduceus marks and European inspired decoration interspersed throughout. Attributed to De Witte Ster. Netherlands, circa 1700 Height: 46in/117cm Diameter: 12in/30cm O3C0174

The development of Delft pottery can be traced back to the foundation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. Upon its’ establishment Chinese ‘Kraak’ porcelain flooded into Holland and made a great impression on the Delft factories of the time. Although tin-glazed pottery, with its distinctive white sheen, had been produced in the Netherlands for almost one hundred years, it was only with this import of Chinese Porcelain that Dutch potters became familiar with geometric, intricate patterned designs. As with Chinese porcelain, most of this tin-glazed pottery was decorated with a blue paint, though multi-coloured designs were also produced. The demand for Delftware spread throughout Europe and elaborate forms were created for both aristocratic and royal patrons.

The organic, curvilinear design of this tulipiere is rare and this example is unique in its size and condition. All other circular tulipiere of this period are either smaller, such as at Dyrham Park in Gloucestershire, or have been damaged and lost some of their original sections, such as at the Moravian Museum in Brno. In his 1983 article, Eftié attributes this four-tier flower vase to the ceramic factory De Grieksche A, owned by Adriaen Kocx from 1687 to 1701, which was extensively patronised by William II and Mary Stuart for their palaces both at Het Loo in Appledoorn and also at Hampton Court in Richmond. Many of the decorative patterns on this tulipiere, such as the bands applied to the spouts and also the braid-work of lotus flower and leaf ornaments, show great similarity to known work produced by Adriaen Kocx. However, there is a very similar tulipiere in Brno , which although missing its top section, is marked with a six-pointed star, a symbol for the Delft factory De Witte Ster, whose founder, Theodorus Witsenburgh, worked from 1690-1703. LITERATURE

G. Ferrari and B. Rottendorff, Flora seu de Florum Cultura Libri IV. The Bavarian State Library, 1633, p.421 J. Eftié, Een Tulpenvaas of Piramide Een Hoogstandje van Delftse Pottenbakkerskunst, Antiek 2, (Aug/Sept 1983) p.85-87

The rapid expansion of the Delftware trade was concurrent with ‘Tulip Mania’ during the early years of the 17th century, when speculation on the value of tulip bulbs caused them to reach astronomical prices. Although the price eventually collapsed in 1637, the tulip remained a central emblem of the ‘Dutch Golden Age’ throughout the century. Many of the Delft ceramics produced at this time were floral vases with spouts and holes or ‘tulipiere’ used for displaying tulips and other flowers. The spouts that protrude from the majority of 17th century Delft tulipiere differ greatly from their European and Chinese counterparts, being both smaller and more numerous. Some larger vases have in excess of thirty spouts. Many tulipiere are specifically designed in the shape of a pyramid, being influenced by the architecture of the ‘Porcelain Pagoda’ in Nanking, China, as well as allowing for a more elaborate floral arrangement.

A plate from De Florum Cultura, depicting an ornate vase and flower display

A Delft tulipiere from the collection at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire

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A JAPANESE ETAGERE A highly unusual Japanese Meiji period iro-urushi lacquer cabinet étagère decorated in makie-e and taka-makie with ascending avian landscape in low relief, with Mount Fuji in the background and flying cranes and phoenix on the upper tier. The doors and supporting elements decorated to simulate wood, the shaped door panels with further lacquer of Mount Fuji and exotic birds. The whole resting on scroll feet decorated with waves. Japan, circa 1860 Height: 66in/168cm Width: 45¾in/116cm Depth: 14in/36cm F3C0166

Japanese lacquer is a highly toxic non-resinous sap from the Rhus verniciflua tree which hardens rather than dries. Iro-urushi, which literally means "color lacquer", is created by adding pigments to clear lacquer, while makie is created by scattering adhesive metal powder, in this case gold, on the soft lacquer creating a sprinkled effect. The taka-makie technique (raised makie) seen on this étagère, uses metallic powders which are applied to soft surface designs built up through a mixture of lacquer and charcoal or clay dust and then affixed by a protective lacquer coat and polished. Originating in China in the 4th century urushi lacquer, the true lacquer, was introduced in Japan during the following century; with products made using this technique always desirable in the Far East. Soon after the establishment of trade with the West in the 16th century, lacquer products became a commodity highly sought after in Europe, copies of the technique for example ‘vernis Martin’ in France or ‘japanning’ in England were often beautiful, however, none as polished and refined as the Japanese.

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A PAIR OF PORCELAIN CATS

A GEORGE III WRITING TABLE

A pair of late 19th century porcelain cats made for the export market, mounted on ormolu bases. China, circa 1880

A fine George III mahogany writing table, the top with a large oval veneer above three drawers in the frieze on each side flanked by carved oval paterae; the desk stands on square reeded tapering legs on castors with a carved foliate motif at the top of each leg. England, circa 1790

Height: 5in/12.5cm Width: 5½in/14.5cm Depth: 4½in/12cm O3D0052

Height: 28in/71cm Width: 34in/86cm Depth: 39½in/100.5cm F3C0370

The use of similar carved oval paterae in the frieze blockings is a motif repeated in a small group of tables attributed to the firm of Ince & Mayhew. These include a writing table at Woburn supplied to the Duke of Bedford in 1790, and also a corner table in Blenheim for the 4th Duke of Marlborough. LITERATURE

H. Roberts, Nicely Filled-Up Furniture for the 4th Duke of Marlborough. The Journal of the Furniture History Society, Vol. 30, 1994, p. 117-149, Fig. 27. Christie’s, Manson & Woods International Inc. (2004). Woburn Abbey, 20-21 Sept 2004 (Sale No. 7013, Lot 175, London).

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A GEORGE III MAHOGANY BRACKET CLOCK An unusual brass mounted mahogany double sided bracket clock by Francis Atkins having the exceptional feature of a clock face on both sides, a domed case veneered in finely figured mahogany with moulded edge and fluted corners with brass counter flutes and brass capital and bases, having doors each side with pierced brass grilles and lifting handles above; on a moulded plinth terminating in shaped ogee brass bracket feet. The eight day duration single fuse movement with anchor escapement, having eight inch painted dials with Roman numerals signed ‘Frans Atkins, London’ and pierced brass hands behind a glazed door with brass bezels with a subsidiary dial for regulation above the dial behind the door on one side. England, circa 1800 Height: 16½in/42cm Width: 13½in/34.5cm Depth: 8in/20cm O3C0197

Francis Atkins (1730-1809) was apprenticed to Joshua Hassell in 1746 and became a member of the Clockmaker’s Company in 1759 and a master of the Company in 1780. His business is recorded at 35 Clement Lane, London.

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› AN IMPORTANT SET OF EIGHT GEORGE III PARCEL GILT SIDE CHAIRS Each with husk and guilloche-carved oval caned back above a serpentine seat, the rails centred by fluted tablets flanked by roundels, on turned tapering fluted legs with stiff-leaf toupie feet. Attributed to François Hervé and almost certainly supplied by Henry Holland. England, circa 1790

Height: 38in/97cm Width: 21½in/55cm Depth: 23in/59cm F3A0257

A PROVENANCE

Supplied to George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834) either for Spencer House, London or Althorp, Northamptonshire and thence by descent. The present set of eight side chairs are attributed to the Parisian chair maker François Hervé who is known to have supplied pieces to Daguerre and in turn Henry Holland. These caned ‘cabriolet’ chairs à la médaillon are characteristic of Hervé’s oeuvre. The Spencer chairs display a far more developed and robust neo-classical vocabulary when compared with the ‘transitional’ caned chairs executed for the 5th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth in 1782. Interestingly, Hervé generally confined himself to chair-frame making and frequently caning. The actual japanning, gilding or addition of composition ornament appears to have been sub-contracted to others, for example a bill from Bickleys of 1782 to Spencer’s brother-in-law, the 5th Duke of Devonshire included ‘japanned seven dozen backstools cane colour’. François Hervé was a French furniture maker, employed initially by the fifth Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, in the 1770s at Chatsworth in Derbyshire. Both the Duke and

Duchess were Francophiles and appreciated good quality furniture and neo-classical styles. It was the Devonshires who first employed the group of Anglo-French craftsmen such as Nelson and Hervé who later became prominent under Henry Holland, an architect to the English nobility. His style was closer to that of Parisian taste than his English rivals, although he sometimes adopted the English habit of splaying the back legs of chairs. Paterae at the junction of the seat rail and the leg are a characteristically French ornament, as is fluting and counter fluting. Dominique Daguerre was a Parisian marchand-mercier who was in partnership from 1772 with Simon-Philippe Poirier, an arbiter of taste and the inventor of furniture mounted with Sèvres porcelain plaques; Daguerre assumed Poirier’s business at La Couronne d’Or in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1777/78. Daguerre commissioned furniture from ébénistes such as Adam Weisweiler, Martin Carlin and Claude-Charles Saunier, and menuisiers like Georges Jacob, for whom he would provide designs, for re-sale to his clients, in the manner of an interior decorator. In 1778 Daguerre moved to London, retaining partnership with Martin-Eloi Lignereux, who remained in Paris. Daguerre set up premises in Sloane Street, Chelsea. He was responsible for furnishing interiors at Carlton House, where his account in 1787 for furniture and furnishings totalled £14,565 13s 6d, and at Brighton Pavilion for George, Prince of Wales, 1787-89. Even chimney-pieces were imported from Paris, to be adjusted by craftsmen in London, according to surviving bills. Whilst in England, Daguerre worked closely with the architect Henry Holland and supplied pieces for Earl Spencer at Althorp, the Duke of Bedford at Woburn and extensively at Carlton House for the Prince Regent. LITERATURE

Albert Edward John, 7th Earl Spencer (1892-1975), Althorp, Furniture, Vol. I, circa 1937 and later P. Thornton and J. Hardy, ‘The Spencer Furniture at Althorp’, Apollo, October 1968, p. 270, fig. 8

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A CHINESE EXPORT REVERSE PAINTED MIRROR A rare and fine late 18th century Chinese export reverse painted pier mirror in a carved, parcel gilt frame, the Vauxhall bevelled mirror plates painted with a tranquil scene of a vignette of finely attired figures in a parkland setting, framed by upright stems of bamboo and oak, entwined by convolvulus and climbing roses, the top plate similarly decorated with a festoon of flowers supporting a central bouquet of fruits and flowers. China, circa 1770 Height: 70½in/179cm Width: 37in/94cm O3C0192

A The mirror epitomises the luxurious taste promoted in the 1770s by architects and Parisian ‘marchand merciers’ for furnishing reception bedroom- apartments in the French/antique or Grecian fashion. Intended to accompany a table or commode-table, the principal glass has been aggrandised with a head-plate to enliven a window-pier

and suitably ornamented to harmonise with a scene galante set in a garden view as well as with a fashionable room’s festoon curtain-drapery. The vignette depicts a youth in Spanish dress reading the novel Zayde (1671) to two girls, who listen with rapt attention like their governess; while their younger sister plays with a ribbon-tied bird. This subject is popularly known as ‘La Lecture Espagnole’ and derives from an engraving executed in 1771 after an oil painting commissioned in 1754 by the noted leader of Parisian literary society Madame Geoffrin (Marie Thérèse Rodet) (d. 1777) from the Rome-trained artist Carle Vanloo (d. 1765), ‘Premier Painter’ to Louis XV. The painting, with its theme of galanterie, was commissioned together with its pair, ‘La Conversation Espagnole’ for Madame Geoffrin’s apartment. These oil paintings, exhibited at the 1755 salon, were further popularised by engravings executed by Jacques Firmin Beauvarlet, shortly before their celebrated sale to Empress Catherine II of Russia. They are now displayed at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The introduction of the technique of painting on glass in China is most often accredited to the Jesuit missionary Father Castiglione (1688-1766) who arrived in Peking in 1715, although the technique of ‘back-painting’ was already established in Europe. The mirror or glass plates were most often imported from the West where the artist would remove the mercury backing in the areas to be decorated and then paint his design in reverse. Once completed and having already survived a perilous journey, the mirrors, now even more highly prized, were returned to Europe. Following the stark classicism of the early 18th century, there was a desire in Europe for the whimsy and fantasy of the Orient. This taste propagated in part by architects such as Sir William Chambers, and fuelled by the East India Company’s imports of porcelain, silks, wall papers, lacquer and other exotic items, created a sensation across Europe for such wares. Interiors that still demonstrate this desire for ‘Chinoiserie’ include Saltram in Devon, Clifton Hall in Northamptonshire, Claydon in Buckinghamshire and the Pavilion in Drottningholm, Sweden.

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A REGENCY SILVER GILT SALVER

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› A COLLECTION OF TOLE MUSHROOMS

A magnificent Regency Irish silver-gilt salver, chased with a broad band of scroll work incorporating dolphin masks and fruits centred by the engraved arms of the Earls of Rosebery, finished with a shell border and resting on four naturalistic feet decorated with shell work. Ireland, circa 1819

A rare collection of mid 19th century painted tôle mushrooms and toadstools with weighted stands, each naturalistically portrayed to show in great detail each fungi’s genera and scale, of some of the popular European mushrooms some edible, others inedible and poisonous. France, circa 1850

Height: 2½in/6.5cm Diameter: 24in/60.5cm

Height: 7½in/19cm Width: 6in/16cm

O3C0266

O3C0177

A This silver-gilt salver was probably made for Archibald John Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery, on the occasion of his second marriage to the Hon. Anne Margaret Anson, daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and Lady Anne Margaret Coke, on 12 August 1819 at the bride’s mother’s home, Holkham Hall in Norfolk. Exquisitely made, the salver displays the Earl’s coat of arms surmounted by an Earl’s coronet, and above the Primrose family motto FIDE ET FIDUCIA which translates as ‘By faith and trust’. The 4th Earl was a distinguished politician who, after attending Pembroke College at Cambridge University was Member of Parliament for Helston in Devon from 1805 to 1806 and Cashel in Ireland from 1806 to 1807. He was appointed Privy Counsellor in 1831 and a Knight of the Thistle in 1840. The makers mark of WN is for W. Nowlan, whilst the mark of WEST refers to the retailer, in this case Jacob West who whilst also making his own silver had a position similar to the Parisian marchand merciers in supplying clients with various luxury items. The rich decoration is in the George IV ‘French Louis XV’ style, and this particular piece relates closely to three smaller salvers made by Jacob West with James Fry in 1824, all heavily embossed and displaying comparable bold allegorical masks, sold by Christie’s on 17 March, 1999 with the provenance as the property of a nobleman.

Numbered on base: 1. Lactarius turpis/(Ugly Milkcap) 2. Cortinarius variecolor 3. Macrolepiota rhacodes (Shaggy Parasol) 4. Inocybe lacera (Torn Fibrecap) 5. Boletus edulis (Cep) 6. Leccinum scabrum (Brown Birch) 7. Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) 8. Clitocybe ditopus (Mealy Frosted Funnel) 9. Lycoperdon echinatum (Spiny Puffball) 10. Cortinarius bulliardi (Hotfoot Webcap) 11. Pluteus podospileus 12. Russula emetica (Sickener) 13. Amanita caesarea (Caesar’s Mushroom) 14. Rhodotus palmatus 15. Agaricus bohusii 16. Russula caerulea (Humpback Brittlegill) 17. Amanita pantherina (Panthercap) 18. Lactarius zonarius 19. Russula integra 20. Amanita fulva (Tawny Grisette)

B 2

16 20

12 3

9 14

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› A REGENCY EBONY AND OAK LIBRARY TABLE A particularly rare library table of golden-modelled oak with ebony inlay and ebonised detailing. The rectangular green leather-lined writing surface has a beaded surround and a rectangular hinged cover at either side, enclosing a shallow well. Each pedestal is fitted with four oak veneered and ebony drawers and open cupboard on the reverse side, all behind recessed panelled doors below a narrow frieze and a central kneehole with foliate spandrels. England, circa 1815

A traced design for this pedestal pattern, also with arabesque inlay, features in Wilkinson’s Tracings, while the pearled inlay framing the leather top featured in the designs for a heroic ‘military trophy’ scene that Bullock supplied to Matthew Robinson Boulton for Tew Park, Oxfordshire, circa 1817. Finally, the sarcophagus form of the pedestals is reminiscent of Bullock’s recurrent side cabinet pattern with a shaped top, for instance the pair of cabinets he supplied to William Beckford, circa 1810.

Height: 31in/79cm Width: 79in/201cm Depth: 37in/94cm

A mahogany veneered desk of this pattern, formerly in the collection of the Earls Graville, was advertised in the Antique Collector, 1984, while another, also in mahogany and with end-drawers was sold anonymously at Christie’s, 7 July 1994. A third desk veneered in mahogany was also formerly at Mallett in 2004.

F3C0092

LITERATURE

This desk is designed in the French/Grecian manner by the Liverpool cabinet-maker George Bullock (d. 1818) around the time of the establishment of his Piccadilly ‘Grecian Rooms’ in 1810. Its marble-like veneer of golden mottled oak is elegantly inlaid with ribbon-panels of Etruscan black ebony providing paired pilasters for the plinth-capped ‘commode’ pedestals, with arched and palm-inlaid brackets, supporting the recessed leather-topped table terminating in Etruscan ‘palm-bud’ finials.

C. Wainwright et al., George Bullock Cabinet-Maker, London, 1988, p. 90-91, no. 26

This tripartite form of library table features in Bullock’s library plan for New Longwood on St. Helena, and a mahogany desk of this pattern was supplied for Emperor Napoleon’s residence in exile at a cost of sixty-eight pounds in 1815. Praised for its ‘tasteful simplicity’ in Rudolph Ackerman’s Repository of Arts, the St. Helena furniture was meticulously described in The Times article of 25 October 1815, ‘House and Furniture for Buonaparte’. The article stated that: ‘The library table is particularly elegant and mechanical ingenuity has been laboriously applied to furnish it with desks and drawers…. Suited to every convenience of study and accommodation’

A related pedestal pattern from the Bullock/ Wilkinson Tracings in the Birmingham City Art Gallery.

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A GEORGE III BLUE JOHN AND ORMOLU SPHINX PERFUME VASE A highly important and very rare perfume vase by Matthew Boulton in the form of a blue john urn mounted with ormolu and raised on a square base incorporating panels of aventurine and tortoiseshell. The circular domed lid with pine-cone finial above a pierced ormolu band, enclosing a burnished gilt-copper tapering well. The body of the vase with a guilloche band and four lion-mask mounts above a waisted socle with ribbon-tied base, the square upper plinth with aventurine and blue-glass inset panels hung with ormolu swags and raised on four reclining sphinxes, these in turn resting on a lower plinth of tortoiseshell panels with pierced foliate border and beaded tapering feet. England, circa 1770 Height: 13in/33cm Width: 6in/15cm Depth: 6in/15cm O3D0080

Messrs Matthew Boulton and John Fothergill’s sphinx-supported cassolette urn was conceived in the George III French/antique manner, and executed at their Soho foundry in Staffordshire. The architect Robert Adam (d. 1792) promoted Etruscan vases as an architectural element in the ‘bourgeois ‘salon’, fashionably dressed à la Français. James ‘Athenian’ Stuart introduced a sphinx guarded urn symbolising eternal love in his 1750s proposal for Kedleston, Derbyshire as both a chimneypiece garniture and hearth ornament for the dining room. In the present case, it was the court architect Sir William Chambers (d. 1796) who, in 1770 encouraged Boulton to introduce this pattern of Eternity cassolette at the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace), where it provided appropriate accompaniment for Queen Charlotte’s mantel-clock. In March that year Boulton recorded his visit to the palace to decide, ‘how many vases it would take to furnish’ in place of china the chimney-piece in the Queen’s Apartment. Chambers’ design for this vase is likely to have been amongst those that he exhibited at the Royal Academy that year as ‘to be executed in ormolu, by Mr. Bolton, for their Majesties’. Queen Charlotte’s cassoulettes or ‘sphinx vases’ were also intended to stand beside another pair of Boulton’s vases, whose pattern was named after King George III as the ‘King’s’ vase.

A sphinx in profile by Sir William Chambers. Pencil, black chalk and grey wash. V&A

The manufacture of such vases of Derbyshire fluorspar or radix amethysti, known as blue john, was being considered in 1768, when Boulton recorded in a letter ‘I have found a use for Blew John which will consume some quantity of it. I mean that sort which is proper for turning into vases’. Robert Bradbury of Castleton, Derbyshire supplied six blue john bodies for sphinx vases in 1770. Boulton included twelve vases of this pattern in the sales of his ‘Superb and elegant produce’ held at Christie and Ansell’s, Pall Mall in 1770, 1771 and 1772. They were described as ‘in the antique taste radix amethysti and ormoulu, lined with silver, and perforated for essence, supported by four sphinxes upon an ornamental base of ebony’. A pair of ‘sphinx’ vases is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and another of this pattern is in the Royal Collection. Other examples of this design include two individual perfume burners in Buckingham Palace and a pair in Windsor Castle supplied to George III in 1771. A single example with the same aventurine and blue glass panels was with Mallett in 1996. LITERATURE

N. Goodison, Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton. London, 1974, p. 96-99. L. Synge, Mallett’s Great English Furniture. London, 1991, p. 212, pl. 245. J. Harris and M. Snodin, Sir William Chambers, London, 1997, p.158, fig 235 and p.157, fig. 233. J. Roberts, George III and Queen Charlotte, London, 2004, p. 269, no. 275. S. Weber Soros, James ‘Athenian’ Stuart. New York, 2006, figs. 6-31

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AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD SETTEES A fine and rare pair of giltwood settees with serpentine shaped backs finely carved with a running guilloche pattern and an anthemion crest. The seat frames carved with fluting paterae and ribbons above each leg and a central tablet with a rosette and swag. The turned and tapering legs terminating in gilt metal sockets. England, circa 1775 Height: 46½in/118cm Width: 76½in/194cm Depth: 27½in/70cm F3C0194

One of a pair of similar style settees made by Thomas Chippendale, commissioned for the Tapestry Room at Newby Hall.

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A pair of settees, which were almost certainly these, were the property of The Right Honourable, The Viscount Ullswater (sold from Campsea Ashe in 1949). Campsea Ashe High House was rebuilt in the 19th century by Anthony Salvin for the Hon William Lowther, younger brother of the 3rd Earl of Lonsdale. The house was designed to retain many of the original Georgian features. Chippendale supplied a pair of settees of similar outline and configuration for William Weddell’s Tapestry Room at Newby Hall, Yorkshire, circa 1775. They also feature related swag-decorated tablets centering the front seat rails. Another stylistic comparison can be made with a celebrated group of seat furniture supplied by the same maker under the direction of Robert Adam for Sir Lawrence Dundas’s London house, No. 19 Arlington Street, London, in the 1760s. This comprises two suites which share closely related anthemion crestings. The anthemion crest motif is also repeated on another of Chippendale’s commissions including sofas and armchairs for John Parker, 1st Lord Boringdon, circa 1772 at Saltram House, Devon. Related ornament later featured in the pattern-book, entitled Sketches of [Antique] Ornament, 1779, that advertised Chippendale the Younger’s succession to his father’s St. Martin’s Lane workshops. Apart from stylistic similarities, this pair of giltwood settees also have v-shaped glue-cramp notches to the under-frames which are often cited as a particular trait of Chippendale’s. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale, 1978, 2 Vols., Vol. II, p.202, pls. 368-369 and pp. 196-197, ps. 356-359).

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A MAGNIFICENT GEORGE III COMMODE A magnificent George III serpentine bombé commode of outstanding colour and patina. The harewood ground inlaid throughout with the finest marquetry, each panel centred with a classical vase adorned with stylised silk ribbons trailing branches of roses, forget-me-nots and harebells, cross banded in tulipwood with boxwood stringing. The whole mounted with fine ormolu. In the manner of John Cobb. England, circa 1780 Height: 35in/89cm Width: 54½in/138.5cm Depth: 23½in/60cm F3C0189

A decorative etching by Thomas Chippendale, circa 1779, of very similar design to the classical vases on this commode

This colourful ‘commode-table’ is conceived in the French/antique manner introduced in the 1760s for the window-piers of fashionable reception dressing-rooms. Thomas Chippendale promoted such beautiful ‘French Commodes’, with the third edition of his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, 1762; and being intended for decoration rather than use, they were later considered appropriate also for Drawing Rooms. This commode is inlaid with the most graceful sprays of flowers and classical urns in the manner of Robert Adam. These would have originally been stained a number of different colours but have now faded to a mellow golden colour. Although tentative, the attribution to Cobb is in part due to the close similarity between the inlay on this commode and the inlay on other commodes attributed to him.

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THE HINTON HOUSE COMMODES A very rare pair of finely grained sycamore chests each crossbanded in rosewood, the rectangular top above three graduated cedar and mahogany-lined drawers with convex quarter-fillets above a waved apron and gently splayed feet, each retaining their original handles. One chest with a paper label pasted to the top drawer inscribed in an 18th century hand ‘Chinese Dressing Room’, followed by an inventory of the contents of that room, the other chest with similar paper label pasted to the top drawer inscribed ‘Chinese Bed Room’, followed by an inventory of the contents of that room. Attributed to Ince & Mayhew. England, circa 1790

Height: 35in/88.5cm Width: 37in/94.5cm Depth: 20½in/52cm PROVENANCE

Supplied to John, 4th Earl Poulett (1756-1819), Hinton House, Hinton St George, Somerset F3C0195

Hinton House There has been a Hinton House on the same site since 1490 but very little of the original building remains. With the family’s newly elevated status in 1627, the 1st Baron Poulett (d. 1649) improved and enlarged the house accordingly. A new south wing, built following the design principles of Inigo Jones, was completed by 1636. Just a few years later in 1650 the estate ledgers show extensive building work was carried out, resulting in two further wings. In the early 18th century, John, 1st Earl Poulett (1663-1743) remodelled the Long Gallery. However, it was in 1789 that the most drastic alterations of Hinton occurred, under John, 4th Earl Poulett (1756-1819). Just a year after completion though, in 1794, the Earl, still not satisfied, engaged Sir John Soane to remodel the interior. In spite of making plans and several visits to the house, the Earl decided at the last moment that he preferred the newly fashionable Gothic style and employed the architect James Wyatt (17461813) instead to proceed with the modifications. It was under Wyatt’s direction that the panelled Grand Saloon, vaulted Gothic Gallery, and the two towers that flank the west of the house were added.

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These golden sycamore chests, with elegantly bowed aprons and Grecian-scrolled feet, are conceived in the 1780s Roman fashion, as featured in a clothes-press pattern in Messrs. A. Hepplewhite & Co.’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, 1788. They are likely to have been commissioned for Hinton House, Hinton St. George, Somerset around the time of its aggrandisement circa 1790 by John 4th Earl Poulett (d. 1819), following his inheritance in 1788. The commodes are pasted with inventory lists of accompanying equipment, which indicate that they furnished the window piers of the bedroom and dressingroom of an apartment hung with Chinese flowered paper (C. Winn, The Poulett’s of Hinton St. George, p. 149). Commodes intended for bedroom apartments such as this pair, were often supplied in a series, with one placed in each of the apartment’s rooms. The paper inventory pasted to the top drawer of each commode would appear to confirm this: one commode placed in the Dressing Room and one placed in the Bedroom.

the furniture. It has been assumed that they must have been collected together at some point and subsequently lost; which does have precedents. However, there is a receipt dated 1790 for £236.19.7 from his architect for plate glass supplied by Ince & Mayhew. Despite the lack of bills, Hasting’s bank records are extremely useful and detailed, and include five entries between 11 July 1787 and 1 January 1789 referring to payments of £1,686 to Mr Mayhew, with a further payment in June 1792 to Mayhew & Co, making £2,176 in total. Equally significant is the fact that no other cabinet makers are recorded in the accounts and without the furniture there would be no other way of accounting for the payments to Mayhew. The pair of commodes at Daylesford and this pair are identical. The measurements are within a half inch of each other and they both have the added expense of including cedar drawer linings.

ATTRIBUTION

This pair of commodes is identical to another pair from the furniture believed to have been supplied by Ince & Mayhew between 1787 and 1792 for Daylesford, Warren Hastings’ house in Worcestershire. The Hastings accounts, which despite recording the day to day expenditure on the building and furnishing of Daylesford, do not include any of the bills for

LITERATURE

C. Winn, The Poulett’s of Hinton St. George. London, 1976, p.49.

The paper labels pasted to the top drawers of both commodes inscribed in an 18th century hand

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A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT MIRROR A fine and rare small Queen Anne pier glass, the pine frame veneered with bolection moulding in walnut of a particularly good colour and grain, retaining its’ original patina. The internal beading with a gilded edge, retains the two original mirror plates, both with Vauxhall bevelling. The whole in remarkably good condition. England, circa 1705 Height: 37in/94cm Width: 17½in/45.5cm F3D0018

A MAHOGANY WINE COOLER A fine George III mahogany hexagonal wine cooler, the ice bucket with one small drawer above a larger single drawer in the frieze. The whole supported on a square base with elegantly scrolled cabriole legs terminating in channelled pad feet, with brass carrying handles and a modern brass liner. Ireland, circa 1785 Height: 29½in/74.5cm Width: 13in/33cm Depth: 13in/33cm F3C0293

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AN IRISH MAHOGANY CONSOLE TABLE A rare mid 18th century Irish carved mahogany console table of exceptional colour, supporting the original Brescia marble slab top, the frieze centred by a boldly carved eagle with outspread wings flanked by floral decoration enhanced with a studded diaper pattern, the shoulders and short sides carved with scallop shells issuing acanthus on slender cabriole legs terminating in squared lion-paw feet. Ireland, circa 1750 Height: 32in/81cm Width: 33Â˝in/85cm Depth: 17in/44cm F3C0214

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A QUEEN ANNE BURR WALNUT BUREAU

› A SET OF TWELVE WATERCOLOURS

OF EXOTIC BIRDS An early 18th century bureau in burr walnut of unusually small scale, the top, the fall front and all the drawers finely cross-banded and inlaid with feather banding, the interior fitted with pigeon holes over a long drawer, flanked by three further small drawers on either side, the base with four long graduated drawers, raised on bracket feet, with brass handles and escutcheons. England, circa 1710 Height:35½in/90cm Width:24in/61cm Depth: 17in/44cm F3D0057

A set of twelve beautifully preserved mid 19th century watercolours of varied tropical birds amongst flowering branches, painted in vibrant colours on a white ground on Chinese pith paper, for the European export market. China, circa 1840 Height: 13in/33cm Width: 17½in/44.5cm P3D0025

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A JAPANESE IVORY LOBSTER A most unusual Japanese ivory articulated model of a spiny lobster, each element carved in fine naturalistic detail. The limbs and spine are articulated and the tail bears the carver’s monogram on the inside. Japan, circa 1870 Height: 4½in/12cm Width: 19in/48cm Depth: 11in/28cm O3D0076

A PAIR OF REGENCY MAHOGANY LIBRARY CHAIRS A fine pair of Regency period mahogany armchairs with square caned backs and seats, the back rails and seat rails panelled, with straight panelled arm supports, resting on four legs those to the front circular, tapering and reeded, and those to the back square and backward splaying, all terminating in brass shoes and castors. Each with loose back and seat cushions upholstered in pale green leather. England, circa 1810 Height: 37in/94cm Width: 23½in/60cm Depth: 26in/66cm F3C0004

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A WILLIAM AND MARY YEW WOOD LOWBOY A fine William and Mary yew wood lowboy, the quarter veneered moulded top with a starburst on a body of three drawers above a scallop shaped apron with drops, all sitting on elaborately turned trumpet legs on bun feet joined by a serpentine cross stretcher. England, circa 1700 Height: 28½in/72.5cm Width: 30½in/77.5cm Depth: 19½in/49.5cm F3D0009

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A GEORGE II MAHOGANY ARMCHAIR

A CARVING SET WITH IVORY HANDLES

An elegant George II carved mahogany armchair, the cartouche-shaped back pierced with elaborate interlaced strap-work, scrolls and acanthus decoration, the scrolling top rail finished with billowing drapery, standing on carved cabriole legs with French scroll feet; the seat now upholstered in fine 18th century period needlework. England, circa 1755

An unusual late 19th century carving set complete with accompanying stands, having ivory handles with silver horses’ heads and guards in silver, stamped Sheffield, with the initials ‘CB’ for William Beatson & Sons Albion Works, Fitzwilliam Street, Sheffield. England, circa 1890

Height: 38½in/98cm Width: 26in/66cm Depth: 25in/63cm F3C0321

Length: 22½in/57cm Width: 3in/7cm O3C0269

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A QUEEN ANNE CARVED GILTWOOD PIER GLASS A fine Queen Anne giltwood pier glass, retaining the original plates, the lower plate bevelled the gilt gesso frame with a carved ribbon and rosette border further enhanced with punched decoration, surmounted by a broken swan neck pediment with carved fruit and acanthus. England, circa 1710 Height: 69in/176cm Width: 24in/61cm Depth: 3Â˝in/9cm O3C0279

B A GEORGE III SERPENTINE MAHOGANY CHEST OF DRAWERS A George III mahogany chest of drawers of finely faded colour, the solid top above four graduated serpentine drawers with canted corners, carved with lattice-work decoration, resting on ogee bracket feet; retaining their original rococo gilt metal handles and escutcheons. England, circa 1760 Height: 35in/89cm Width: 41in/104cm Depth: 20in/51cm F3C0359

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A SPECIMEN WOOD CENTRE TABLE An early 19th century Ceylonese specimen wood, ivory and pewter inlaid carved ebony table, the top of various specimen woods including palm, rosewood, calamander and satinwood, issuing from a central ivory flower finished with further engraved decoration, the veneers divided by chequer-banding with pewter inlay, the frieze carved with a border of petals, the columnar support carved in solid ebony, resting on an ebony base with concave sides, the down swept legs terminating in claw and ball feet. Ceylon, circa 1835 Height: 30½in/77cm Diameter: 44½in/113cm F3C0377

B Ceylon became a British colony in 1796, when the British East India Company took control of the island from the Dutch. Its Governors were drawn from military backgrounds up until 1830, after which they tended to be civil servants. It is recorded that a number of the British Governors in Ceylon and other officials and merchants commissioned local cabinet-makers to produce furniture for their own houses as well as government buildings. The contents of the Governor’s residence in Colombo, the King’s House, were described in an inventory of 1833 and included ‘One table with different woods of Ceylon, with ebony feet’, the earliest known reference to specimen wood tables in Ceylon. After his death in 1838, Sir Edward Barnes’ property was sold at auction in London, including a quantity of Ceylonese furniture. There were a number of tables, one described thus: ‘A three feet circular centre table of ebony, the top inlaid with various specimen of fancy wood, the edge finished with ivory and ebony à la Greque border, on turned pillar, and finely carved claws, terminating with peacock’s heads’.

Galle was an active commercial centre in the 19th century. The highly skilled artisans working there produced outstanding pieces of furniture, ranging from small boxes to items such as this table. One of the most striking features of 19th century Ceylonese furniture is the diversity and beauty of the indigenous cabinet making woods, including calamander, Ceylon teak, tamarind, iron wood, pol-coconut and ebony. Much of this furniture design derived from English pattern books but the carved and inlaid work was of local origin. The Ceylon Times in 1850 published an editorial section relating to the forthcoming Great Exhibition in London the following year: ‘Like India, Ceylon possesses many manufacturers who would hold their own with the productions of more favoured countries. Her infinity of carved wood and manufacturers, the beauty of various specimens of inlaid work in wood and ivory... are well known to many.’

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A SET OF POLISHED STEEL FIRE TOOLS A rare set of early 19th century polished steel fire tools and stand, each engraved with neo-classical decoration of swags, patera and leaf designs, surmounted by classical urn finials. England, circa 1800 Height: 38in/97cm O3A0309

A GEORGE II WALNUT BUREAU BOOKCASE A rare George II walnut bureau bookcase having a tall, broken arch pediment with concave moulded cornice, above a centred inlaid sunburst and flanked by two simpler ones. Below having arched doors with bevelled mirror plates and with candle slides below, all flanked by canted pilaster corners; the lower part having a sloping front enclosing the bureau section, above two short and three long graduated drawers in the base, retaining their original brass handles, the bottom drawer incorporating the very rare feature of an inlaid sunburst recess at the centre. The whole raised on unusual cabriole feet; the sides of the cabinet with brass carrying handles. England, circa 1720 Height: 106in/269cm Width: 43Â˝in/109cm Depth: 25in/63.5cm F3C0360

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A GEORGE II GILTWOOD MIRROR A George II carved giltwood mirror of impressive scale and quality, in the manner of Matthias Lock, the two later plates separated by a carved floral band flanked by symmetrical borders of opposing ‘c’ scrolls with further acanthus decoration, pierced shell work and drops of fruit and flowers, supporting a boldly-carved broken scrollwork pediment of similar design, centred by an asymmetrical cabochon cartouche with foliate sprays; the base similarly decorated with a central cabochon. England, circa 1750 Height: 88in/223cm Width: 45in/114cm Depth: 4½in/12cm O3C0249

This mirror was made at the time when furniture design in England was moving on from the more formal, architectural forms of the William Kent period and coming under the influence of the French rocaille style. Straight lines were giving way to asymmetric curves and straight-faced Palladian masks were becoming expressive human faces. Matthias Lock was the first English furniture designer to evolve this new look, which he developed into the full rococo style, prior even to Chippendale. Lock was a highly accomplished carver and designer, recorded at two London addresses: Nottingham Court, Castle Street, Long Acre in 1746 and ‘Near The Swan’, Tottenham Court Road in 1752. It is believed that he was engaged for a period by Chippendale for certain drawings and carving work. Between 1740 and his death in 1765 he published numerous books of designs for furniture, including mirrors and girandoles, some in collaboration with Henry Copland. These always reflected the latest fashion and so in the later years they progressed to the neo-classical taste. The Victoria and Albert Museum retains many of his original drawings, which were acquired in the middle of the 19th century from the Lock family. After Lock’s death, many of his works were reprinted. The publisher described him as ‘the famous Matt Lock recently deceased who was reputed the best Draftsman in that way that had ever been in England’. The best known of Lock’s major commissions was the furniture he supplied to the 2nd Earl Poulett for Hinton House in Somerset in the early 1740s, of which a pier glass and pier table are also now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The mirror illustrated here comes from this same period. The natural motifs, all much favoured devices of Lock are composed and carved with superlative skill and liveliness. The foliate, flower and scroll elements all became essentials later in the rococo drawing books but here they are still controlled within a certain symmetry. This mirror thus spans two important design traditions and is perhaps an example, like the Hinton House mirror, of one made for a patron who wished to be up-to-date but was not yet willing to espouse the full-blown fantasy and asymmetry of the emerging rococo. It is a masterful compromise.

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THE WESTPORT HOUSE DINING TABLE A Regency period mahogany Imperial dining table of exceptional colour and condition, attributed to Gillows of Lancaster, supplied for Westport House, County Mayo, the extending action with nine original leaves on twenty elegant turned, reeded and tapering legs, terminating in brass cups and castors. The ends shaped and with a frieze veneered in mahogany. The table is capable of extending beyond 30 feet. England, circa 1810 Height: 28in/72cm Width: 60in/152.5cm Length: 344in/873cm PROVENANCE

The Marquess of Sligo, Westport House, Westport, County Mayo, Ireland. F3C0250

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The Imperial table was a refined version of the patent telescopic table designed by Gillow in 1804. In 1818, Gillow supplied for the same dining room two ‘elegant mahogany sideboards supported by richly carved eagles’ for £364.00; an identical table by Gillow although only extending to 19’ 6” was supplied for Broughton Hall, North Yorkshire in 1813. Commissioned by John Browne (1709-76), Westport House is one of the great Georgian houses of Ireland built in 1731, of grey limestone in the Palladian style and to the design of Richard Castle (1690-1751). Castle became one of the most prolific architects of the period and popularised Palladian architectural principles, designing the great houses of Russborough House in Co. Wicklow, Carton House in Co Kildare and Leinster House in Dublin (today the seat of the Oireachtas). Originally, Westport House consisted of a single, east-facing block house of two storeys with seven bays, over a half-sunken basement, built with quality cut stone and designed with small

windows, making the house appear larger. After his marriage to Elizabeth Kelly, heiress to sugar plantations in Jamaica, Peter (1730-80), the second Earl of Altamont, enlarged the house considerably by adding a further three sides to it, probably to the design of Thomas Ivory. Howe Peter Browne (1788-1845), second Marquis of Sligo and the purchaser of this table, had a passion for archaeology. One of his better known exploits was his involvement with an excavation in Mycenae in 1812, during which the two great 3,000-year-old columns from the doorway of the Treasury of Artreus were removed. He spent four months in gaol for bribing British sailors to assist with the transportation of these antiquities. The columns remained in the basement of Westport House until 1906 when the sixth Marquis presented them to the British Museum in exchange for replicas. In 1943, these replicas were erected on the south-facing side of the house. Howe Peter was also Governor of Jamaica, and was presented with a silver candelabrum in 1828 in recognition of his support for the

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emancipation of slaves in Jamaica. The candelabrum is decorated symbolically at its base with a former slave holding up his child, suggestive of a new-found freedom. The stem of the candelabrum is a palm tree, with its fronds extending from a central branch decorated with neo-classical inspired bell flowers, surmounted by a pineapple. In 1781, John Denis, third Earl of Altamont and later first Marquis of Sligo, employed the English architect James Wyatt (1746-1813) to complete the interior of Westport House. His elegant plasterwork motifs were inspired by the paintings discovered at the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. His plasterwork was cast from mounds and set in low relief, featuring neo-classical repeating figures and garlands in oval and circular medallions. Although later renovations removed much of Wyattâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plasterwork throughout Westport House, it survives in magnificent detail in the dining room. During the second half of the 18th century mahogany had become the preferred wood for dining tables. The mahogany

for the two matching dining room doors at Westport came from the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s estate in Jamaica; it is possible that the superb mahogany of the Westport dining table was also supplied from the estate. Despite changing fortunes and circumstances, Westport House has remained in the Browne family to the present day. In the 1980s the tenth Marquis of Sligo, Denis Edward, opened the house and grounds to the public and has developed the estate into a popular attraction for visitors, allowing the family to maintain their Palladian home. LITERATURE

S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Antique Collectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club Ltd, 2008, p. 241, pl.243.

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A PAIR OF SRI LANKAN OCCASIONAL TABLES A pair of mid 19th century Sri Lankan specimen wood and carved ebony occasional tables, the octagonal top with leaf carved edge and central swirling flowerhead inlay, with radiating veneers of specimen native woods, within feather-banded and white metal inlaid borders, above a cushion moulded frieze, with frieze drawer, on lotus leaf and double ‘c’ scroll supports on a leaf carved platform base with scroll feet. With paper labels for ‘Edwards and Roberts, Wardour Street, London’. Ceylon, circa 1870 Height: 28in/71.5cm Width: 23in/58cm Depth: 20in/50cm F3C0242

The use of specimen woods as a decorative feature was distinctive to Galle District and Ceylonese specimen wood tables first occur in the second quarter of the 19th century. The handling of the inlay on the tops of these tables is incredibly sophisticated, suggesting that by this time the makers were experienced in this type of production. References to the inlaying of specimen woods appear in accounts of the period, H. C. Sirr writes that at Galle there ‘are also manufactured those exquisite inlaid articles...ivory and various coloured native woods are inlaid upon the ebony and the designs are well defined’ (Amin Jaffer’s Furniture from British India and Ceylon, V & A Publications, 2001, p. 373.) The table tops are generally consistent in decoration and design, with variations in pattern determined by the shape of the table top. The hexagonal and rectangular tables usually had scrolled supports and the top is typically inlaid with a central radiating roundel within triangular segments and divided by chevron borders. The firm Edwards and Roberts was founded in 1845 and by 1854 was trading as ‘Edwards and Roberts’, 21 Wardour Street, ‘Antique and Modern Cabinet Makers and Importers of Ancient Furniture’. LITERATURE

A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2001, p. 373.

A design for a very similar occasional table in Thomas King’s Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified. London , 1829, plate 87.

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A GEORGE III MAHOGANY COMMODE A fine George III mahogany serpentine commode of superb colour and patina, in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, the shaped top with a moulded edge and projecting front corners above an unusual arrangement of drawers, all of the finest quality, with two dummy drawers in the centre revealing one deep compartment, with finely cast and chased gilt-brass handles and raised on rare shaped bracket feet. England, circa 1775 Height: 30in/77cm Width: 49in/125cm Depth: 24in/61cm F3C0255

The highly unusual bracket feet on this commode are almost identical to those seen on a pair of serpentine commodes supplied by Thomas Chippendale to Ninian Home for Paxton House, Scotland in 1774. This rare bracket foot is also found on another serpentine commode, almost certainly by Chippendale, supplied to the 10th Earl of Pembroke for Wilton House, Wiltshire circa 1770. The link to Chippendale is strengthened by the fact that the handles on the present commode are of a pattern frequently used by Chippendale. As well as being of a grand size and of superb colour the commode is also distinguished by its highly unusual serpentine outline and drawer arrangement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; quite possibly a unique combination. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale. Bookwise International, 1979, p. 117, fig. 205-206.

A chest of drawers with similar rare bracket feet, almost certainly by Thomas Chippendale for Wilton House, Wiltshire circa 1770

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AN EXCEPTIONAL GILTWOOD WALL TROPHY A very rare carved giltwood trophy representing the victory of Peace over War, with elaborate flamed torches, spears, fruits, garlands and two doves perched on a central quiver of arrows. Attributed to Sefferin Nelson (1739-1797), after designs by Henry Holland. England, circa 1795 Height: 118in/300cm Width: 38in/96.5cm O3C0260

A Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, former Director of the Royal Collections and Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Art, attributes the set of four wall trophies made for the Throne Room at Carlton House, to Sefferin Nelson (1739-97), a prominent London gilder and carver. The Carlton House Trophies, which are of the same dimensions and ornamented with similar carving and motifs to the one here illustrated, were commissioned by the Prince of Wales, later George IV, from the famous marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, who had the order completed by Nelson’s workshops.

Sefferin Nelson’s prolific career includes his work as an interior carver, gilder, and picture frame-maker. He cultivated a number of important English patrons during the last quarter of the 18th century with some of his most celebrated commissions involving several of Robert Adam’s projects, including Shelburne House in 1769 and Kenwood House in 1773, for which Nelson completed Adam’s furnishing designs. Between 1786 and 1791, Nelson also worked at Carlton House, as indicted on his trade card, which features the Royal Coat of Arms and reads ‘Carver Gilder & Frame Maker to their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales & the Duke of Cumberland’, also offering ‘Upholstery in General’. (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, ‘The Crimson Drawing Room: Carlton House’, Furniture History, vol.26, 1990, p.10). LITERATURE

G. Bellaigue ‘Daguerre and England’ in Leben, Ulrich. Bernard Molitor 1755-1833: ébéniste parisien d’origine luxembourgeoise, Luxembourg: Ville de Luxembourg, 1995, p. 175

Published in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Bernard Molitor, 1755-1833: Ébéniste parisien d’origine luxembourgeoise, sa vie, son oeuvre, Geoffrey de Bellaigue’s article discusses Dominique Daguerre’s work in London. He refers to the trophies, noting that “A reading of the bills submitted by the carver and gilder Sefferin Nelson in 1788 and 1789 reveals (…) it was to Daguerre that he was answerable for the trophies in the Throne Room.(G. Bellaigue ‘Daguerre and England’ in Leben, Ulrich. Bernard Molitor 17551833: ebeniste parisien d’origine luxembourgeoise, p. 175). The design is most likely to be the work of architect Sir Henry Holland, who oversaw the renovation of Carlton House and worked closely with Daguerre. He commissioned a long set of giltwood trophies for the throne room at Carlton House towards the end of the 18th century, four of these trophies can be identified with those now in the throne room of Buckingham Palace.

The Throne Room at Buckingham Palace

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A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT BUREAU BOOKCASE A Queen Anne bureau bookcase of fine walnut veneer, the upper section with a moulded overhanging cornice above glazed doors revealing shelves; the fall front bureau opens to reveal a fitted interior with pigeonholes and nine small drawers; the lower section with a kneehole and door flanked by three drawers on each side, all standing on a plinth base; with original brass engraved handles and escutcheons. England, circa 1710 Height: 93in/236cm Width: 43in/109cm Depth: 22¼in/56cm F3D0012 PROVENANCE

Formerly in the collection of Percival D. Griffiths. LITERATURE

R.W. Symonds & P. Griffiths, Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture. London, 1923, pl. 24

The same bureau bookcase is illustrated in Symonds’ Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture.

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› A SET OF TWELVE WATERCOLOURS

DEPICTING ARCHITECTURAL SCENERIES A set of twelve late 18th century watercolours depicting architectural ‘verduta’ sceneries. Italy, circa 1800 Height: 14½in/37cm Width: 20½in/52cm P3A0394

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From left to right, top to bottom: L’arc de Titto, La Colonne Trajane, Temple de la Minerve Medica, La Cascade de Tivoli, L’Euphietheatre Flavien, Le Celle de Caracalle

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From left to right, top to bottom: La Rotonde, Temple de Vèsta, Le Temple du Faun, Temple de Canobo à Tivoli, La Fontaine d’Égérie, Temple de Pallas

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A COLLECTION OF GLASS BOTTLES

Back Front

1 & 3 A pair of wrythen bottles

O2I0304

An amber glass bottle

O3A0443

A coloured glass bottle

O2I0303

A glass serving bottle

O3C0127

A set of coloured glass bottles

O3C0074

A green glass bottle

O2I0141

A red glass serving bottle

O3C0245

A Louis Philippe green glass bottle

O3C0131

An amber glass decanter

O3C0128

A green glass serving bottle

O3C0244

A gilded glass decanter

O2I0413

A coloured glass bottle

O2J0032

A wrythen amber glass bottle

O3B0092

3 2

5 4

6 7

10 9

12 11

13 14

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A Victorian green glass bottle

O2I0538

A set of coloured glass bottles

O3C0074

Two coloured glass bottles

O2I0303

A blue glass serving bottle

O3C0130

A green glass serving decanter

O3C0268

A white wine decanter

O3C0132

A set of coloured glass bottles

O3C0074

An opaque serving bottle

O3C0147

19 & 23

A pair of blue glass bottles

O3C0143

A silver mounted bottle by Heath and Middleton

O2E0521

A pale green glass bottle

O2I0253

A white overlay cut glass bottle

O3C0148

A Louis Philippe blue glass bottle

O3C0146

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20 19

22 21

24 23

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25 26

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A GEORGE II MAHOGANY CARD TABLE An exceptional, well-proportioned mahogany card table, the shaped top of very fine colour and patina opening with a concertina action to reveal a baize-lined interior with candle stands and guinea wells, the hinges stamped ‘H. Tibats’, the frieze raised on boldly carved front cabriole legs headed with lion heads and carved acanthus brackets, with further leaf carving running down to terminate in carved hairy lion’s paw feet. England, circa 1740 Height: 39in/99cm Width: 35in/89cm Depth: 17in/43cm F3C0265

The stamp of ‘H. Tibats’ on the hinges is thought to relate to Hugh Tibbats or Tibats (both spellings are recorded), ‘hinge and sash fastening maker’ of Bell Street, Wolverhampton, listed in ‘The Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley Bilston and Willenhall Directory, 1781.’ The ‘Tibats’ stamped hinge has been recorded on a number of high quality concertina action tables. LITERATURE

P. Thornton, A Signed Hinge. Furniture History Society, 1966, pp. 44-45

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A LIMEWOOD CARVING OF A PAIR OF EAGLES A fine quality late 19th century Swiss limewood carving of two golden eagles perched on a rock, carved in fine naturalistic detail. Switzerland, circa 1880 Height: 26in/66cm Width: 21½in/55cm Depth: 10½in/27cm O3C0122

The popularity of these naturalistically carved birds came to prominence with the visit of Queen Victoria to Switzerland in 1868 and the building of a Swiss chalet at Osbourne House which was furnished with Swiss carvings. The English romantic vision of Switzerland was fuelled by the heroics of mountaineers such as Edward Whymper (1840-1911) who made the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865.

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A SET OF FOUR LACQUER ARMCHAIRS A set of four extremely rare armchairs with elaborate qiangjin lacquer. The triple-panel back and seat on each is richly incised with climbing tree peonies and butterflies; the frame is decorated with repeating patterns of chrysanthemums and foliate sprays. The legs are similarly decorated and have stylised, archaistic dragon spandrels joined by stepped-stretchers with shaped aprons beneath. The elaborate decoration is continued on the outer panels of each chair and remains in remarkable original condition with little sign of wear. Qianlong Period . China, circa 1740

The only other known set of chairs of a similar pattern is catalogued in the collection of Lord Fairhaven at Anglesey Abbey. These chairs are more fluid in design, the dragon spandrels are slightly more elongated, and there are no aprons beneath the stretchers, which suggest a later date than the more archaic designs of the present group. Also, the condition of the lacquer at Anglesey show greater signs of wear and restoration. These four armchairs are unique on the market and have not been seen publically for twenty-five years, having been in two private collections throughout the twentieth century.

Height: 43½in/110cm Width: 21½in/54cm Depth: 20in/50cm

This pattern of chair has traditionally been dated to the Wanli period in the Ming Dynasty. However, recent research now dates this most unusual form to the Qing Dynasty, during the first half of the 18th century. The production of lacquer furniture of such a large size is extremely time-consuming. These four chairs display the most skillful craftsmanship and very few examples of such lacquer furniture survive today, especially in this original state. There are no other known examples in any collection either in China or America.

F3C0241

LITERATURE

M. Beurdeley, Chinese Furniture. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1979. M. Dupont, Les meubles de la Chinee. Paris: Librairie des arts de ´coratifs, 1950.

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A SILVER CONDIMENT SET

A GEORGE I WALNUT BACHELORS’ CHEST

A rare set of silver condiment holders by Alexander Crichton, naturalistically fashioned into the form of acorns, including four salts as cuplets with gilt interiors and spoons each with an acorn finial, two pepper pots with removal nut and a mustard pot with a hinged lid, all resting on oak leaf sprigs. England, circa 1879

A very fine early 18th century walnut bachelors’ chest of fine colour and patina, the turnover top above four graduated drawers with herringbone inlay, all retaining their original handles, the whole supported on bracket feet. England, circa 1720

Height: 3in/8.5cm Width: 3½in/9.5cm Depth: 3in/7.5cm

Height: 28in/71cm Width: 30in/76cm Depth: 13in/32.5cm F3C0371

O3C0381

Alexander Crichton produced some of the finest whimsical silver in the repertoire of the English silversmith, seemingly inspired by the drawings of Sir John Tenniel for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (1872). Crichton’s greatest triumphs are a series of silver mounted glass claret jugs in the form of animals and birds, made between 1881 and 1882, of which the bodies are made of glass and the heads and feet are in silver.

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A FINE GEORGE II GILTWOOD MIRROR A giltwood mirror with an open pediment and finely carved cartouche, with late rectangular bevelled plate in an egg-anddart moulded frame in the Kentian manner, surmounted by an open pediment and centred by a finely carved cartouche with a coat of arms flanked by falcons’ heads. England, circa 1740 Height: 37in/94cm Width: 17½in/45cm Depth:1½in/4cm F3C0356

According to Renesse’s Figures Héraldiques, there is only one family in the British Isles bearing the three lozenges on the crest of this mirror, Costello of Castlemore and Edmundstown, County Mayo, descended from Shane MacCostelloe, chief of his name in 1586. The Arms: three lozenges gules The Crest: a falcon proper belled The Motto: NE TE QUÆSIVERIS EXTRA LITERATURE

T. de Renesse, Dictionnaire des Figures Héraldiques Vol. II. London, 2010, p. 438. B. Burke, The General Armoury of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Comprising A Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time (1884). London, 1884, p. 232

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A RARE GEORGE II CEREMONIAL CHAIR An extremely unusual and oversize walnut armchair with concave vase-shaped splat and broad sloping shoulders ornamented with carved and gilt acanthus and volute terminals. The central splat inlaid with floral marquetry and motto, ‘FOR OUR COUNTRY’, the side rails further inlaid with husk pendants. The arms terminate in finely carved lions’ masks, above compass seat supported by cabriole legs ending in pad feet. Possibly by Francis Brodie of Edinburgh, c. 1745-60. England, circa 1750 Height: 69in/175cm Width: 33in/84cm Depth: 30in/76cm F3D0010

PROVENANCE

American Private Collection LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Vol. I (1978), p. 76, no. 58; Vol. III (1998), p. 720 (ill.) S. Pryke, ‘The extraordinary billhead of Francis Brodie’, Regional Furniture, Vol. 4 (1990), pp. 81-99 (pp. 87-98 and fig. 16)

This remarkable armchair is likely to have been made for use in a dining club of members of the Anti-Gallican Society, whose motto, ‘FOR OUR COUNTRY’, is inlaid at the top of the splat. It formerly had a Victorian cresting incorporating the figure of Britannia, who also features in the Society’s arms – presumably a copy of the original cresting. The Victorian version was replaced by the present cresting (lacking Britannia) in the twentieth century. The Anti-Gallican Society was founded in the resonant year of 1745, to promote British arts and manufactures as against those of France. The chair was sold in 1974 in Edinburgh, apparently with a Scottish history of ownership, which has given rise to the suggestion that it was produced in the workshop of the Edinburgh wright Francis Brodie. His billhead features an armchair of somewhat similar profile (though more domestic proportions). A closely related ceremonial armchair, retaining its original carved cresting, was formerly in the collection of Percival Griffiths and is now at Temple Newsam House, Leeds. The Temple Newsam chair is cut from slightly different templates (notably in the outline of the splat) and has different marquetry in the back, so it was not necessarily a companion chair to the present one. However, it was undoubtedly made in the same workshop; and it conceivably also has Anti-Gallican symbolism, in the large eagle that surmounts the cresting, for one of the Society’s armorial supporters was an eagle – though a double-headed one. The Temple Newsam chair is also made partly of elm, which would be consistent with a Scottish origin. How far the Anti-Gallican Society was active in Scotland in its early years is uncertain, but a likely promoter would have been Lord Blakeney, who vigorously defended Stirling Castle, of which he was Governor, under siege during the ‘45 Rebellion. Another Scottish connection is attested by a silvergilt badge of the Society in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is engraved on the back with the MacKay arms; its rococo style suggests a mid-eighteenth century date.

A closely related Master’s chair at Temple Newsam House

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A CHARLES II COCUS WOOD CABINET ON STAND A very rare Charles II oyster veneered cabinet on stand, veneered in cocus wood, the rectangular top above a moulded cornice and a pair of doors enclosing a fitted interior of two drawers around a central door with a row of pigeonholes on top. The interior of the doors with fitted period silk embroidered panels, the stand with one long frieze drawer. The whole stands on barley-twist turned legs joined by a waved stretcher and ending in bun feet. England, circa 1675 Height: 57in/145cm Width: 36in/91.5cm Depth: 18in/45.5cm F3C0353

Adam Bowett describes cocus wood as “one of the most important of the early cabinet woods” (Bowett, Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400-1900, 2012). Despite its significance, cocus wood was often mistakenly identified as ‘laburnum’, ‘lignum vitae’ or ‘West Indian ebony’. With its distinctive chocolate brown heart and yellow sapwood, this very hard, dense wood, imported mainly from Jamaica and Cuba, was primarily used in English cabinet-making from 1660-1690. Perhaps the best known example from this period is a pair of cabinets on stands, now in the Royal Collection, gifted by Queen Henrietta Maria to the Earl of St. Albans. As seen in the present cabinet with Mallett, and the pair in the Royal Collection, cabinet-makers working with cocus wood exploited the natural contrast between the dark heart and the lighter sapwood to create wonderfully unusual and striking patterns. The needlework panels on the inside doors are likely original to the piece. The panels are decorated with pimpernels and honeysuckles surrounding a water fountain indicating that this cabinet may have been made to celebrate a marriage.

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A PAIR OF CONVEX MIRRORS A very fine pair of Regency period giltwood and ebonised convex mirrors, with the trade label for Thomas Fentham on the reverse, the crestings formed of perching eagles, with strings of pearls and tassels in their beaks, the original convex plates in frames of carved giltwood with carved acanthus decoration issuing top and bottom, the front edge finished with ebonised ribbons and the plates with borders of large gold pearls, flanked by candle sconces with cut glass and machined brass holders. England, circa 1815 Height: 48Â˝in/123cm Width: 31in/78cm Depth: 11in/28cm

Trade label for Thomas Fentham on the reverse

F3D0035

Thomas Fentham trade label reads as follows: Thomas Fentham No 136, Strand, Near Somerset-House, Manufacturer of Looking-Glasses, Convex and Concave Mirrors, Picture and Glass Frames. Glass for Exportation. Thomas Fentham has been recorded as a carver, gilder, glass grinder and picture frame-maker at the Strand in London between 1774 and 1825. LITERATURE

C. Gilbert, A Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840. The Furniture History Society, 1996, p. 204.

A very similar convex girandole mirror by Thomas Fentham, also featuring an ebonised eagle

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A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT DOUBLE SETTEE A very fine Queen Anne double splat walnut settee of rich colour and patination, the double back with baluster form splats with shepherd’s crook arms and compass drop-in seat above cabriole front legs on pad feet and turned and block back legs, all connected by a turned block and curved stretcher. England, circa 1720 Height: 41in/104cm Width: 46in/117cm Depth: 21in/53cm F3D0017

A GEORGE I BRASS DOG BOWL A rare George I engraved brass dog bowl modelled by Fizzy, inscribed ‘Will’ and dated 1721. England, 1721 Height: 4in/10cm Diameter: 7in/17.5cm O3D0036

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A QUEEN ANNE RED LACQUER TOILET MIRROR A particularly fine Queen Anne red lacquer toilet mirror, the original Vauxhall bevelled mirror plate within a cushion moulded frame and shaped cresting above is supported on turned and decorated uprights above a fitted fall front dressing cabinet below. The fall opening to reveal shaped drawers and pigeonholes, the drawer, with double serpentine front, unusually retaining all its fitted interior boxes and brushes in separate compartments, having a number of secret drawers. The whole surface in remarkably good original condition, retains extensive gilt chinoiserie and fantasy floral landscapes within lined and elaborately patterned borders. The whole standing on flat bun feet. England, circa 1710 Height: 42Â˝in/108cm Width: 20in/51cm O3C0021

Two similar toilet mirrors, both with replaced glass, are illustrated in The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, one of which can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. LITERATURE

G. Beard and C. Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers: 1660-1840. London, 1986, p.352, fig. 12 and p.353, fig. 16 .

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A WILLIAM AND MARY MARQUETRY CABINET ON STAND A rare floral marquetry and oyster veneer cabinet standing on most unusual barley sugar twist and turned legs. The rectangular top on a moulded cornice above a pair of doors inlaid with a central oval panel depicting flowering urns and canted panels with birds; the reverse of the doors with oyster veneer circular panels, enclosing a fitted interior of ten drawers around a central door with a flower marquetry panel; the eight leg stand with one long frieze drawer the whole standing on eight legs joined by an elaborate pierced and waved stretcher terminating in bun feet. England, circa 1690 Height: 66in/168cm Width: 49in/124.5cm Depth: 22in/56cm F3D0019

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A NAPOLEON III GILTWOOD ROPE STOOL A Napoleon III finely-carved giltwood rope twist stool, in the form of entwined rope knotted at the base, now upholstered with deep-buttoned red silk velvet. In the manner of A.M.E. Fournier. France, circa 1870 Height: 19in/48cm Diameter: 26in/66cm F3C0017

The model for this stool was created by the upholsterer A.M.E. Fournier who was established in Paris from 1850 at 109 boulevard Beaumarchais and later at boulevard des Capucines. As well as exceptional case furniture Fournier was renowned for his upholstered work, showing at many of the great exhibitions of the period including l’Exposition Universelle of 1867. His most famous creation was the wonderfully naturalistic giltwood rope twist stool, which was as highly sought after in his own period as it is today. The charming use of simulated tassels for the feet, are a significant example in relation to the second Empire period (1852-1870) when the importance of upholstery and textile embellishment reached its’ peak in interior decoration. Mallett formerly owned this fascinating giltwood armchair in the manner of Fournier of which there are clear stylistic similarities, although on a grander scale. The armchair is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York along with a very similar ‘pouffe à cordes’ also in the manner of Fournier, formally in the collection of Arthur and Madeleine Lejwa. Another such example of Fournier’s rope twist stool is in the Musée National du Château de Compiègne, formally a royal residence built for Louis XV and one of the three seats of government alongside Versailles and Fontainebleau. LITERATURE

H. Hayward, World Furniture. London, 1965, p.241, pl. 928.

A giltwood armchair in the manner of Fournier formally belonging to Mallett, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A Fo

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A FINE CHIPPENDALE PERIOD GILTWOOD MIRROR An elaborately carved George III giltwood mirror of rococo design, the central cartouche with foliate c-scrolls and bell flowers, elaborately pierced with an unusual double-layered cresting, flanked by hoho birds above a central heart-shaped plate, all enclosed by repeated ‘c’ and ‘s’ scrolls, both pierced and solid. The rectangular lower plate with stylised pilasters and external frame of entwined oak branches, with stepped rocaille beneath, and repeated ‘c’ scroll central cartouche containing lambs on a grassy knoll. England, circa 1765 Height: 87in/221cm Width: 47in/119cm F3D0022 PROVENANCE

Jessie Woolworth Donahue Devenish and Company (sold 1975) EXHIBITED

The Grand Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sixth International Exhibition presented by C. I. N. O. A., 19 October, 1974.

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› A PAIR OF SHIP’S CANNON

A finely cast pair of bronze cannon with ringed barrels, each bearing the marks for ‘Latham & Co, Hull’, a shipping company recorded as operating in the first half of the 19th century, on oak carriages with bronze fittings. Stamped ‘Latham & Co Hull’ England circa 1840 Height: 22in/56cm Width: 16½in/42cm Depth: 36in/92cm O3C0276

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A REGENCY MAHOGANY WHAT-NOT

A GEORGE III BLUE JOHN URN

A very rare Regency period mahogany what-not of tapering form for the display of fine ornaments, consisting of two cupboards and three drawers edged with ebony mouldings with turned and carved column supports and feet with reeded ornament, resting on elaborate brass cups and castors. England, circa 1815

A fine George III blue john urn of neo-classical shape, the ring-turned body with particularly intense veins of purple colour, the waisted socle standing on a blue john and white marble pedestal resting on a slate plinth. The finial replaced. England, circa 1780

Height: 55in/140cm Width: 18Â˝in/47cm Depth: 17in/44cm F3C0257

Height: 14in/36cm Width: 4in/10cm O3C0205

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A PAIR OF CUT GLASS WALL LIGHTS

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› A PAIR OF CARVED GILTWOOD

OVAL MIRRORS A pair of mid 19th century three arm glass wall lights, the rope twist arms with silvered nozzles and cut drip pans, each centred by a tall upward-pointing tapered notch cut prism, the whole festooned with swags of button drops and larger faceted pear drops, mounted on oval mirror plates with borders of large cut pearl decoration. All the metal work is silver plated and numbered. Attributed to F & C Osler of Birmingham. England, circa 1840 Height: 26in/66.5cm Width: 18in/46cm Depth: 12½/32cm

A pair of carved giltwood oval mirrors formed by two flowerentwined foliate branches topped by an upright stem with bow. Attributed to William and John Linnell. England, circa 1765 Height: 59in/150cm Width: 29in/74cm F3C0347

These mirrors are closely related to a drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum for a pier glass for a side of a room by John Linnell.

L3C0343

PROVENANCE

The Milnes Gaskell/Motley family of Prior’s Lodge, Wenlock Priory and Cronk Hill, Shropshire. Probably acquired by Lady Constance Milne-Gaskell (nee Knox), daughter of 5th Earl Ranfurley.

Based on the same design there is a pier glass mirror at Uppark, West Sussex as well as a white-painted pier mirror supplied to Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter for Burghley House, Lincolnshire, for whom Linnell had worked. PROVENANCE

The Bowes Family, Gibside, Durham. LITERATURE

H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell. Vol. II, London, 1980, p. 115, fig. 221.

A design for an interior in William and John Linnell, vol. II. Pen, ink and sepia wash, circa 1760-1765

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› A SUITE OF TWELVE CHINESE SIDE CHAIRS A rare suite of twelve Chinese Huanghuali hardwood chairs, the hooped back carved with scrolled acanthus leaves and central bellflowers beneath a deep lambrequin with further foliate carving. The base to the central splat has an inverted bellflower above a drop-in compass seat, supported on cabriole front legs each with a carved lion’s mask on the knees and further acanthus carving, terminating in ball and claw feet. China, circa 1745 Height: 39¼in/100cm Width: 22½in/57cm Depth: 18½in/47cm F3C0351

This rare set of Chinese-export side chairs are of almost identical design to an English walnut model, an example of which is in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and a pair are also in the Gerstenfeld Collection, Washington DC. The latter was purchased by Mallett in the 1980s from the Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe family, which strongly supports Lucy Wood’s suggestion in her book, The Upholstered Furniture in The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Vol. 1, that copies of the walnut model may have been commissioned by Sir Henry Gough (1708-1774), a prosperous trade merchant with India and China, during his excursions to the Orient. This can be based on the fascinating discovery of a portrait of Sir Henry and his family by the artist William Verelst, dated 1741, which features four chairs of identical pattern in the background. The portrait is believed to have been painted to commemorate Sir Henry’s marriage the same year to Barbara Calthorpe, from whom descend the previous owners of the mentioned walnut pair. This set of Chinese chairs forms part of a larger group consisting of at least sixteen single chairs and two armchairs; the twelve chairs now displayed were collected over a period of twenty five years and this is the first time they have ever been seen in public as a group. LITERATURE

L. Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Vol. 1. National Museums, Liverpool, 2008, pp 435-436

An English walnut model of very similar design

A portrait of Sir Henry Gough and his family, featuring the chairs in the background, by William Verelst, dated 1741

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A GEORGE I GILT GESSO GAMES TABLE

An early 18th century George I carved gilt gesso concertina action games table, the folding top with rounded corners and incised decoration of stylised acanthus, intertwined oak leaves, acorns and shells on a punched ground, opening to reveal a baize lined playing surface with guinea wells and foliate carved candle stands, the broad frieze carved with stylised acanthus motifs, raised on straight tapering legs with shells at the knees and terminating in pad feet. England, circa 1720 Height: 30in/77cm Width: 34in/87cm Depth: 17in/43cm F2G0156

A very similar concertina action gilt gesso games table was formerly in the collection of the Earls of Carnarvon, Highclere Castle, now in the Metropolitan Museum. The rarity and quality of both the Metropolitan’s and Mallett’s table can be related to two London workshops; that of the Royal cabinet-maker James Moore and also the Huguenot family of carvers, the Pelletiers, who supplied the royal households of William III and Queen Anne.

A similar gilt gesso games table currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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AN IVORY CHESS SET An early 19th century Chinese export ivory ‘puzzleball’ chess set, one side stained red, the other side left in the natural colour with the kings and queens as Emperor and Empress, bishops as mandarins, knights as horsemen, rooks as elephants and the pawns as horsemen, all raised on finely executed carved puzzleball bases. China, circa 1820 Height: 8in/20cm LITERATURE

C. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Antique Collector’s Club, pp. 295-296. O3C0165

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› A PAIR OF LIBRARY ARMCHAIRS A pair of Gainsborough armchairs with high backs and straight sweeping arms with turned tapering legs ending in ball and claw feet; the legs are joined by turned and bracketed stretchers. Ireland, circa 1750 Height: 43in/109cm Width: 29in/74cm Depth: 32in/81cm F3C0368

Russborough House in Blessington, Ireland, was built between 1741 and 1750 by the successful German architect Richard Castle (Cassells) for Joseph Leeson, first Earl of Milltown (1701-1783). The house, built in the Palladian style, is famous for its fine stucco ceilings by the Lafranchini Brothers, ornate mantlepieces, inlaid floors and an impressive central staircase made from Santo Domingo mahogany. The spectacular natural surroundings are echoed by the extravagant design of its garden terraces, from which the magnificent views of the Blessington Lakes and the Wicklow mountains beyond can be fully appreciated. Joseph Leeson was an enthusiastic collector, furnishing Russborough House with an impressive array of fine furniture, tapestries, carpets, porcelain, silver and bronzes, mostly acquired during his visits to Rome. The decorative program of the house combines a formal disposition of space with an unrestricted ornamental expression, a traditional feature in Irish architecture of the period. The classical austerity of the exterior of the house belies the luxurious extravagance of its interiors, majestically disposed and decorated with a combination of elaborate plasterwork and rich furnishings.

A mahogany sofa supplied to the first Earl of Milltown, en suite with Mallett’s armchairs.

In its heyday, during the mid-18th century, Russborough was one of the very finest houses in Ireland. The Countess of Kildare noted, in 1759, that “the house is really fine and the furniture magnificent, but it is a frightful place.” This last remark was a social comment, because the first Earl, at the time, scandalized Irish society by entertaining a single woman with her two daughters at the house. LITERATURE

Georgian Society Records, 1913, vol. V, late LVI, some illustrated in the Hall. J. Peill and The Knight of Glin, Irish Furniture. London, 2007, p. 81, fig. 102. (Illustration: a sofa of the same suite.) S. O’Reilly, Irish Houses and Gardens, London, 1998, p. 87. PROVENANCE

The Salon in 1935, showing Mallett’s armchairs beneath the exuberant plasterwork and fine collection of paintings.

Almost certainly supplied to Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown (d. 1783) for Russborough, Co. Wicklow in the 1750s, possibly for the saloon as part of an extensive suite comprising at least fourteen armchairs two sofas and a daybed.

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A PAIR OF MARBLE PEDESTALS A pair of late 18th century marble pedestals constructed from a multiplicity of marbles including verde antico, onyx cipollino and statuary marble. The pedestals are of rectangular tapering form with recessed panels on three sides. Italy, circa 1780 Height: 49in/124cm Width: 16in/41cm Depth: 10½in/27cm F3C0227

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› A CHINESE LACQUER SCREEN A fine mid 19th century red and gilt lacquer eight fold screen of exceptional quality and condition, produced in Canton for the export market; both sides richly decorated with courtly scenes of water gardens with figures amongst houses, pagodas bridges and boats, all within borders with entwined dragons on one side with additional scarlet decoration and on the other side, borders with exotic birds, carp, fruit and flowers. China, circa 1840 Height: 94in/238.5cm Width: 173in/440cm F3C0223

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A PAIR OF FINELY CARVED GEORGE III SIDE CHAIRS A pair of George III mahogany side chairs with pierced back splats decorated with very finely carved Chinese and Gothic ornament, enriched throughout with foliate decoration in high relief set against a punched ground. The upholstered seat supported at the front on elegantly shaped cabriole legs, terminating with richly carved scroll toes. Attributed to Edward Newman. England, circa 1755 Height: 37in/94cm Width: 23in/59cm Depth: 23in/59cm

This pair of side chairs was certainly part of an outstanding set of dining chairs of which Mallett recently handled the armchairs (now in an American private collection). These chairs represent a wonderful blend of rococo motif, with the exotic flavour of chinoiserie, the flamboyance of Gothick and the tradition of classical motif, incorporating all these as structural design elements. The highly carved ornamentation and use of elm for the seat rails has similarities in detail to the rare Master’s chair at Temple Newsam House, attributed to Edward Newman. LITERATURE

F3C0152

A Left, a rare Master’s armchair from Temple Newsam House attributed to Edward Newman, the emblematic motif, for example the use of joined hands on the back and the pair of doves, suggest it could have been made for a fellowship society or to commemorate a marriage. The stylised rocaille decoration on the seat rails on an unpunched ground, are part of this signature work. All these chairs have the unusual and rare use of elm rails rather than the more common beech or oak. The knurl feet are first seen on a design in Thomas Chippendale’s Director 1754, plate 15. Below left, a design for a side chair from Thomas Chippendale’s Director, plate 15, featuring the first use of a knurl foot.

Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, plate 15, London, 1754. (A Re-Print of the First Edition, The Chippendale Society Leeds, 2005.) C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Vol. 1, plate 71, p.86. The National Art Collections Fund and the Leeds Art Collections Fund, 1978.

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A GEORGE I BACHELOR’S CHEST An exceptional George I burr walnut bachelor’s chest, the foldover top with ovolo-moulded bead and featherbanding of the finest colour and patination opening to reveal a veneered interior of straight grained walnut, also with featherbanding, with two small drawers in the frieze between bearers, above three graduated ovolo-moulded drawers veneered in burr walnut with featherbanding and retaining their original brass handles and escutcheons, raised on bracket feet; the chest of superb figure throughout. England, circa 1725 Height: 31in/78.5cm Width: 29in/74cm Depth: 15½in/39cm F3C0273

A similar chest with a fold-over top can be seen at Beningbrough, York, The National Trust. LITERATURE

A. Bowett. Early Georgian Furniture, 1715-1740. p. 108, pl. 3:26

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A PAIR OF GEORGE III MAHOGANY ELBOW CHAIRS A pair of George III mahogany shieldback armchairs in the manner of George Hepplewhite, the upholstered seat and back within a mahogany frame entirely carved in finely detailed laurel leaves, overcarved with acanthus and harebells. Each supported on tapering reeded legs. Made by George Hepplewhite, possibly designed by Gillows. England, circa 1785

This fine pair of armchairs relate very closely in design to a Gillow’s drawing of 1786, for a ‘Cabriole Armchair’ made for the conservative statesman, Sir Robert Peel. Sir Robert ordered a set of ten chairs at this time and it is certainly plausible to attribute these armchairs as formerly part of the collection; with clear similarities in the shape of the back and arm rails, along with the turned fluted legs featuring distinctive Gillow’s capitals.

Height: 35in/89cm Width: 23¼in/59cm Depth: 18in/46cm

PROVENANCE

F3C0277

LITERATURE

Probably part of the collection of Sir Robert Peel, former British prime minister (1834-1835).

S. Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London, Woodbridge, pl.146, p.181. R. Edwrads, Hepplewhite Furniture Designs: from the CabinetMaker and Upholsterer’s Guide 1794. Tiranti, 1947, p.9.

An almost identical design for an armchair, by George Hepplewhite

A design by Gillows for a cabriole armchair made for Sir Robert Peel in 1786. (Westminster Archive Centre)

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M A L L E T T LO N D O N

A RARE GLOBE CLOCK

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› A SET OF FOUR CHINESE LACQUER

PANELS A rare mid 19th century brass novelty automaton time piece with celestial and terrestrial globes, signed by Newton & Son. The clock mechanism framed in a boldly conceived ring of gothic arches supported by a foot of interlocking circles and terminating on a stepped mahogany plinth. The celestial globe is marked ‘Newton’s new and improved celestial globe, London, Newton and Son, 66 Chancery Lane and 3 Fleet St, Temple Bar’. The celestial globe is dated 1860. The terrestrial globe is also dated, although less distinctly, and marked ‘Newton’s new and improved terrestrial globe, London, Newton and Son, 66 Chancery Lane and 3 Fleet St, Temple Bar’. The original day movement signed on the dial and back plate by Lucas, London. The terrestrial globe is rotated by the movement. The celestial globe is moved by hand. England, circa 1860 Height: 27in/69cm Width: 21½in/54cm Depth: 8in/20cm O3D0067

Newton & Son, active between 1810 -1868, were one of the leading makers of globes and orreries during the 19th century. LITERATURE

H. Wynter and A. Turner, Scientific Instruments. London,1975, p. 178.

A set of four early 19th century Chinese lacquer panels, the black ground inset with mother-of-pearl, soapstone and raised lacquer decoration in the form of vases, pots of flowers, paint brushes and varied Chinese symbols. The whole within a double band of mother-of-pearl. China, circa 1800. Height: 48½in/123cm Width: 27½in/70cm O3C0270

These panels depict the day to day objects of an intellectual or artist. They are probably from internal doors from the home of a prosperous family during the early part of the 19th century. The symbols themselves are part inspirational, part instructional and are synonymous with peace and prosperity.

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M A L L E T T LO N D O N

A PAIR OF 19TH CENTURY STOOLS

A GEORGE III MARQUETRY BOX

A charming pair of stools decorated in the chinoiserie style, the turned simulated bamboo supports with X frame stretcher and central finial, terminating in curved rustic feet. England, circa 1860

A George III marquetry jewellery box in remarkable condition, inlaid with ovals of specimen wood and delicate flowering and foliate tendrils, each panel with intricate borders of feather banding and stringing in box wood and pear, having a paper label for Dewdney, Perfumer, No.55 Fleet Street inside the lid, the interior with various velvet-lined compartments and lift-out trays, the lid interior also with a removable harewood panel, centred by an oval burr yew panel. The whole with silvered handles. England, circa 1790

Height: 21½in/54cm Width: 15½in/39cm Depth: 15½in/39cm F3C0134

Height: 5½in/14cm Width: 12½in/32cm Depth: 10in/25.5cm O3C0315

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M A L L E T T LO N D O N

ENGLISH MONARCHY Charles II

1660-1685

William III of Orange and Mary II

1689-1694

William III (ruled alone after death of Mary)

1694 - 1702

Anne

1702-1714

George I

1714-1727

George II

1727-1760

George III

1760-1820

George IV

1820-1830

William IV

1830-1837

Victoria

1837-1901

Edward VII

1901-1910

FRENCH RULERS/MONARCHS Louis XIV

1643-1715

Philip of Orleans (Regent)

1715-23

Louis XV

1715-74

Louis XVI

1774-1792

FIRST REPUBLIC

1792-1804

Napoleon I

1804-1814

FIRST EMPIRE

Louis XVIII

1814-1824

Charles X

1824-1830

Louis-Philippe

1830-1848

Napoleon III

SECOND EMPIRE

1848-1870

QING DYNASTY (1644–1911) REIGN TITLE

REIGN DATES

Shizu

Shunzhi

Shengzu

Kangxi

Shizong

Yungzheng

1723–35

Gaozong

Qianlong

1736–95

Renzong

Jiaqing

Xuanzong

Daoguang

1821–50

Wenzong

Xianfeng

1851–61

Muzong

Dongzhi

1862–74

Tezong

Guangxu

(Pui)

Xuantong

1644–61 1662–1722

1796–1820

1875–1908 1909–11

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RESTORERS OF FURNITURE & WORKS OF ART

Hatfields is one of the world’s longest established restoration firms. It has a history which dates back to 1834 when the original Hatfield family established the business. Initially founded to produce fine miniature frames, the company expanded to include furniture workshops and quickly established its reputation as the leading firm in its field, restoring and conserving furniture and works of art for Royalty, private and museum collections throughout the world. In the 1930’s the company proudly noted on its letterhead that it had warrants from Queen Victoria, The Prince of Wales, King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra and King George V. The high standards of the time have been maintained and Hatfields is proud to have restored outstanding pieces for institutions such as The Getty Museum in California, and the Badminton Cabinet, now in the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. Hatfields are equally proud of their record in restoring all types of pieces needing repair and of their capacity to produce fine works to commission. In 2007, Hatfields took over premises in London on Clapham High Street. Scholars House is a fine late 18th century building, from which the company is developing a range of services that will offer clients a complete ‘one stop shop’ for all their restoration needs.

Hatfields Restoration Scholars House 49 Clapham High Street London SW4 7TL

Telephone 020 7622 8169 Fax 020 7622 2009 info@hatfieldsrestoration.com www.hatfieldsrestoration.com

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27 june to 3 july preview: 26 june

art antiques design

MASTERPIECEFAIR.COM SOUTH GROUNDS THE ROYAL HOSPITAL CHELSEA CHELSEA EMBANKMENT LONDON SW3 +44 (0)20 7499 7470

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MALLETT PLC DIRECTORS

The Lord Daresbury* Chairman Giles Hutchinson Smith Chief Executive Michael Smyth-Osbourne Financial Director James Heneage* Henry Neville *Non executive

MALLETT & SON (ANTIQUES) LTD Ely House 37 Dover Street London W1S 4NJ Telephone +44 (0)20 7499 7411 Fax +44 (0)20 7495 3179

MALLETT INC 929 Madison Avenue at 74th Street New York N.Y. 10021 Telephone 001 212 249 8783 Fax 001 212 249 8784

Giles Hutchinson Smith Chief Executive Michael Smyth-Osbourne Financial Director Richard Cave Director Felicity Jarrett Director Justin Evershed-Martin Associate Director Gina Hamilton Katie Holyoak

Henry Neville President João Magalhães Sarah Sperling Olivia Colson Ana Gutierrez-Folch

Telephone +44 (0)20 7495 5375 Fax +44 (0)20 7495 3197 Email: hello@madebymeta.com www.madebymeta.com Eleonore Halluitte Andrews Production Manager

VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.mallettantiques.com Email: info@mallettantiques.com

Copyright All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Terms and conditions All business transactions are subject to our standard terms and conditions of sale, copies of which are available on request.

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