Thomas Moore
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Lot 356TP
A mid Victorian ormolu mounted satinwood, purplewood and ebonised inlaid pier display cabinet by Kerby and Sons, in the manner of Donald Ross
18 – 19 April 2023, 10:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,737.50 inc. premium
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A mid Victorian ormolu mounted satinwood, purplewood and ebonised inlaid pier display cabinet
by Kerby and Sons, in the manner of Donald Ross
1860-1875, with distinctive dot and trellis inlay, the top surmounted by a tasselled drapery swag mounted gallery above a glazed panelled door, enclosing two shelves, on a plinth base, with boxwood and ebonised stringing, stamped: 'Kerby, 545 New...(Oxford?) St.', approximately: 79cm wide x 38cm deep x 111cm high, (31in wide x 14 1/2in deep x 43 1/2in high)
1860-1875, with distinctive dot and trellis inlay, the top surmounted by a tasselled drapery swag mounted gallery above a glazed panelled door, enclosing two shelves, on a plinth base, with boxwood and ebonised stringing, stamped: 'Kerby, 545 New...(Oxford?) St.', approximately: 79cm wide x 38cm deep x 111cm high, (31in wide x 14 1/2in deep x 43 1/2in high)
Footnotes
Kerby and Sons are recorded in "The Furniture Gazette Directory", 1876, as a cabinet making firm and upholsterers based at 545 and 546 New Oxford Street, London. The business flourished during the period 1876-1885. It is subsequently noted in the Furniture Gazette, 1 April 1885, that the final stock of Kerby and Sons, who were by that time located at 108 New Oxford Street, had been sold at auction, 25 March of the same year, by Messrs. Brown & Tooth of Oxford Street.
https://bifmo.furniturehistorysociety.org
However the distinctive dot-and-trellis parquetry decoration on the offered lot is arguably more characteristic of, or recognisable as, the work of Donald Ross, who was inspired by the oeuvre of the 18th century French cabinetmakers Garnier and Sené. Working in London's Denmark Square during the third quarter of the 19th century, Ross exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Ross's firm, which was located in Denmark Square in London, flourished during the third quarter of the 19th century. Also, Ross exhibited in the 1851 Great Exhibition alongside the most important designers and makers of the time. In 1928 Thomas Ross, who was Donald's son, wrote a letter addressed to the Victoria and Albert museum which refers to a related suite of Donald Ross furniture originally displayed at the Great Exhibition, which was subsequently sold to Queen Victoria via an agent called Freyburg.
Some tables with virtually identical dot and trellis inlay are illustrated in C. Payne, European Furniture of the 19th Century, 2013, Suffolk, p. 291.