Lot 86
A George III 'plum pudding' mahogany serpentine commode in the manner of John Cobb
20 November 2013, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£7,000 - £10,000
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A George III 'plum pudding' mahogany serpentine commode
in the manner of John Cobb
The moulded top above three long graduated drawers, the frieze drawer revealing a baize-lined slide, the serpentine front corners with ebonised stringing, on splayed bracket feet, 118cm wide, 59cm deep, 84cm high (46in wide, 23in deep, 33in high).
The moulded top above three long graduated drawers, the frieze drawer revealing a baize-lined slide, the serpentine front corners with ebonised stringing, on splayed bracket feet, 118cm wide, 59cm deep, 84cm high (46in wide, 23in deep, 33in high).
Footnotes
John Cobb (c.1715-1778) worked in premises at 72 St Martin's Lane, London. He completed his apprenticeship in 1736 and went into partnership with William Vile (c.1700-1767) in 1751. Vile and Cobb were, along with Chippendale, Mayhew and Ince, Linnell, Langlois, France and Bradburn, Gordon and Taitt, Marsh and Tatham, Seddon and Gillows, among the celebrated cabinet-makers commissioned by George, 6th Earl of Coventry, to supply furniture and furnishings for Croome Court. Croome Court - to which Vile and Cobb supplied well over 1300 items between 1757-1773 - was their most prestigious 'country house' contract.
On the accession of George III, Vile and Cobb were granted a royal warrant to supply furniture to the Crown under the direction of the Master of the Great Wardrobe. Some of Vile and Cobb's most celebrated commissions are discussed by G. Beard, 'Vile and Cobb, Eighteenth Century London Furniture-makers', Antiques, June 1990, pp. 1394-1405. Upon Vile's retirement in 1764 Cobb took over the firm. At this time Cobb took a managerial role and was primarily concerned with design and quality control. A change in direction was required to meet competition from other London firms such as Thomas Chippendale and John Linnell the neo-classical taste gradually took hold from the mid 1760's, first in an increasingly refined vocabulary of marquetry decoration applied to the bombé and serpentine forms of the 'French manner' of the 1750's introduced to London by Pierre Langlois and popularised by Chippendale's Director.