Lot 71
A George II and later mahogany dressing table cabinet after a design by Thomas Chippendale
20 November 2013, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,875 inc. premium
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A George II and later mahogany dressing table cabinet
after a design by Thomas Chippendale
The shaped and pierced fretwork, rocaille, scrolled acanthus and floral carved cresting above a dentil cornice and a bevelled glass inset panelled door, enclosing three adjustable shelves, flanked by two later doors applied with interlaced scrollwork, rocaille and scrolling foliage, enclosing six adjustable shelves, over a short central cavetto drawer, on a desk comprising one frieze drawer enclosing a later writing slide top, with six short drawers below flanking a central arched door to the recess, the door applied with a C-scroll, rocaille, foliate and stalactite carved cartouche, on conforming pierced bracket feet, 112.5cm wide, 58cm deep, 195cm high (44in wide, 22.5in deep, 76.5in high).
The shaped and pierced fretwork, rocaille, scrolled acanthus and floral carved cresting above a dentil cornice and a bevelled glass inset panelled door, enclosing three adjustable shelves, flanked by two later doors applied with interlaced scrollwork, rocaille and scrolling foliage, enclosing six adjustable shelves, over a short central cavetto drawer, on a desk comprising one frieze drawer enclosing a later writing slide top, with six short drawers below flanking a central arched door to the recess, the door applied with a C-scroll, rocaille, foliate and stalactite carved cartouche, on conforming pierced bracket feet, 112.5cm wide, 58cm deep, 195cm high (44in wide, 22.5in deep, 76.5in high).
Footnotes
Provenance:
With Blairman and Sons, London, 1944
Sold Sotheby's London, 24th June 1966, lot 74
Sold Christie's London, 9th April 1987, lot 98
Offered Sotheby's London, 7th July 1995, lot 53
Literature: R Edwards and M Jourdain, 'Georgian Cabinet-Makers', London, 1944, p. 131, fig. 81.
A related design for a 'Dressing chest and Bookcase', appears in Thomas Chippendale's "The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director",1753, plate CXIV. The overall form of the present lot is virtually identical to Chippendale's design.
When the above lot was offered at Sotheby's the carving to the upper doors and drawer was absent, the carving to the doors have since been re-introduced but the carving to the frieze drawer is now absent. It would appear that alterations have been made to the original cabinet with some licence taken during its life to make it appear as close as possible to Chippendale's design, at the time of the various auctions in the 1980s/1990s, the later additions had been removed only to be later partially re-instated.