



A George III mahogany serpentine chest possibly by Thomas Chippendale
Sold for £7,500 inc. premium
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A George III mahogany serpentine chest
Inlaid with ebonised lines, the shaped rectangular top above two short and three long graduated drawers, with shaped sides and canted angles, on a moulded plinth and shaped bracket feet, with laminated blocks and red wash to the underside, with Hammod & Son depository label to the reverse, 'HARDY/538' and '15', 107cm wide, 61cm deep, 96cm high (42in wide, 24in deep, 37.5in high).
Footnotes
Provenance:
Christies, London, 10th September 2009, lot 255.
The thin red wash appeared on a number of pieces of mahogany furniture at Dumfries House, Ayrshire, which were attributed to 'The Dumfries House Cabinet-Maker' - possibly Thomas Chippendale (included in the Dumfries House Christie's sale catalogue, 12-13 July 2007, among them lots 106, 236, 251 and 252). Each of the chests examined had a distinctive 'thin red wash' painted on the underside and sometimes on the backboard, similar to the lot offered here. The wash is seen on many lesser pieces of Chippendale furniture in the house and also on the magnificent padouk bookcase. At Nostell Priory Chippendale wrote to Sir Ronald Winn in August 1767 regarding 'the bottle of red stain for the meddal case' and instructed him to apply the stain two or three times to ensure depth of colour (Royton, L. and Goodison, N., Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory, Furniture History, 1968, p.21)