24 May 2012
12:00 BST
Chester
The Beedham Collection: Selected Oak Furniture & Works of Art 1450 - 1750
Back to auction 20460
The Beedham Collection: Selected Oak Furniture & Works of Art 1450 - 1750
Back to auction 20460
A rare Elizabeth I small oak cupboard
Circa 1570-1590
Having a channel-moulded frieze raised on baluster and cotton reel-turned end columns, enclosing a cupboard door with applied mitre mouldings centred by a lozenge moulding, the lower cupboard door with conforming mitre edge moulding and central square moulding, within conforming channel-moulded rails, on extended stile supports, originally with an integral canopy superstructure long since removed, ownership initials TR to lower right-hand stile, 59cm wide x 40cm deep x 114cm high, (23" wide x 15.5" deep x 44.5" high)
Having a channel-moulded frieze raised on baluster and cotton reel-turned end columns, enclosing a cupboard door with applied mitre mouldings centred by a lozenge moulding, the lower cupboard door with conforming mitre edge moulding and central square moulding, within conforming channel-moulded rails, on extended stile supports, originally with an integral canopy superstructure long since removed, ownership initials TR to lower right-hand stile, 59cm wide x 40cm deep x 114cm high, (23" wide x 15.5" deep x 44.5" high)
Sold for
£26,250
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Provenance: Roger Warner Collection. Purchased at Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 19 June 1967.
Small cupboards of this early date are rare, with few known examples. A similar cupboard, with the integral canopy, dated to circa 1600, is illustrated R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture (1986), Vol II., p. 198, fig. 1. Both cupboards have three distinct stages, including the canopy, and have turned end columns enclosing a central cupboard door to the mid-section. Further direct comparisons can be made to the proportions of the door and the ironmongery, the latter believed to be original to this lot.
Comparative Literature: S. W. Wolsey and R. W. P. Luff, Furniture in England: The Age of the Joiner (1968), pl. 34, illustrates a livery cupboard with a similar lozenge moulding to the centre of the cupboard door. The lozenge employed here is notable for how it demonstrates the subtle design details of this piece. On the lower door it is rotated to produce a square, achieving a significantly altered 'look', without a definite design change. This is further demonstrated by the channel-moulded rails used differently around the two doors; vertical on the upper door and horizontal on the lower door. Furthermore, the top rail above the upper door has a channel-edge detail, whilst this is transferred to the two side rails on the lower door. This piece is a true example of sophisticated, yet simplistic, Elizabethan design. Compare to Lot 214.
Category: Furniture / Oak Furniture
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