LATE 17TH EARLY 18TH CENTURY

This exotic strong-box jewel chest has fretted brass bandings richly flowered with French fleur de lys, relating to one sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 16 March 1993, lot 237. The Duchess of Lauderdale's related strong-box is listed in the 1677 inventory of Ham House, Surrey; and incorporates security corkscrews for fixing to the floor of her bedroom apartment (see P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House', Furniture History, 1980, p. 58 and fig. 68). This chest's black japanned exterior is embellished with insect-feeding birds in the 'Oriental' or 'Indian' fashion appropriate for bedroom appartment furnishings illustrated in engravings issued in John Stalker and George Parker's Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, 1688; while its ivy-wreathed borders reflect the Regency fashion popularised by engravings for 'pen work'. The fall conceals a cabinet japanned with birds and insects amongst 'Chinese' pavillions in the manner of Stalker and Parker, while its central compartment has mirrored sides and a French marquetry floor of a bird perched amongst flowers in the manner of a cabinet 'of inlaid wood' listed in the 1683 Ham inventory (Thornton, ibid., p. 105 and fig. 101).