This blue lacquer cabinet was the subject of a large scale lawsuit in 1923. Adolphe Shrager had purchased L111,193 in antiques from the dealer Basil Dighton Ltd. to furnish a new house. He later sued Dighton for fradulent misrepresentation claiming that the furniture which had been sold to him as genuine was, in fact, 'altered and made up and spurious'. Percy Macquoid and Sir Charles Allom of White Allom were called in to defend Dighton, and Herbert Cescinsky appeared as a witness on behalf of Mr. Shrager. In the case of the 'blue lac' cabinet, the court found favor with Dighton and it was accepted as a 'perfectly genuine article'. In the transcripts of the case, the prosecutors claimed that the blue lacquer cabinet was the same as a black and gold cabinet sold by Christie's in the Estcourt sale of 12 February 1920, and that a blackened varnish was removed to reveal the blue color beneath. The buyer of record for that sale was another dealer, Kent Gallery, who may have purchased this in partnership with Dighton, altough this cannot be confirmed. When the cabinet was later sold from the Shrager collection, Moss Harris claimed that he 'knew (the cabinet) before its restoration and can vouch for its genuinesness'.

We are grateful to Lucy Wood of the Lady Lever Art Gallery for her assistance in preparing this catalgoue entry.