Lot 192
A pair of Regency mahogany, ebonised and black marble side cabinetsin the manner of Marsh and Tatham
20 November 2013, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£8,000 - £12,000
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A pair of Regency mahogany, ebonised and black marble side cabinets
in the manner of Marsh and Tatham
The rectangular black marble tops above a mirror back super-structures, each with a pair of amboyna banded small doors flanked by half-column pilasters, above rectangular black marble tops, the friezes with lozenge and star inlaid palm motifs above open tiers, the sides with brass X-shaped on square pillar supports each inlaid to the front with a caduceus, on ebonised bun feet, one marble of a later date, originally with panelled backs now removed but present, 86cm wide, 43cm deep, 107cm high (33.5" wide, 16.5" deep, 42" high). (2).
The rectangular black marble tops above a mirror back super-structures, each with a pair of amboyna banded small doors flanked by half-column pilasters, above rectangular black marble tops, the friezes with lozenge and star inlaid palm motifs above open tiers, the sides with brass X-shaped on square pillar supports each inlaid to the front with a caduceus, on ebonised bun feet, one marble of a later date, originally with panelled backs now removed but present, 86cm wide, 43cm deep, 107cm high (33.5" wide, 16.5" deep, 42" high). (2).
Footnotes
Provenance:
Formerly the property of Lady Anne Cowdray (1913-2009).
Lady Anne Cowdray was the daughter of the 10th Earl of Bradford and married Viscount Cowdray in 1939. Lady Anne lived at Broadleas House, Devizes, Wiltshire for sixty four years until her death in 2009.
Although unmarked, these cabinets do show some characteristics of the leading Mayfair cabinet-makers and interior decorators, Marsh & Tatham (subsequently Tatham, Bailey & Sanders). William Marsh (active 1775-1810) and Thomas Tatham (1763-1818) were partners in a very successful firm of cabinetmakers and upholsterers based in Mount Street. They carried out major commissions for the Prince of Wales at Brighton Pavilion and at Carlton House. Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1842), brother of Thomas, was sent to Rome by the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806) in 1794 to collect Classical fragments. Tatham's drawings of these, published as 'Etchings of Ancient Ornamental Architecture' in 1799-1800, provided Marsh and Tatham with the inspiration for much of their furniture.
In 1806 Marsh and Tatham designed a set of four yew wood bookcases in the Greek style, for the library at Carlton House at a cost of £820 (see H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure: The Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London, 2002, p.333, fig.414) Whilst they are of a completely different design to the offered lot, they do employ similar stylised ebony marquetry. Likewise, a secretaire and drum shaped table both from the collection of Ralph Dutton at Hinton Ampner also attributable to Marsh and Tatham employ a similar use of ebony decoration on a mahogany ground (see M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1820, London 1934, p.71, fig.22 and p.129, fig.142.) The Hinton Ampner secretaire uses the same lozenge and star motif inlaid in ebony. The lozenge motif appears in combination with anthemions on a bookcase designed for the Duke of Devonshire and attributed to Thomas Hope, sold Sotheby's Chatsworth Attic sale, 5-7 October 2010, lot 137, while the snake motif appears on an overmantel mirror illustrated in M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1820, London, rev. ed.1965, p.26, pl.33,149.