Lot 117
117
A GEORGE III CHINESE LAC BURGAUTE AND BLACK AND GILT-JAPANNED SECRETAIRE CABINET-ON-STAND, the three-quarter galleried rectangular top with ball finials, above a pierced fretwork galleried shelf with shaped C-scroll brackets, the rectangular top with hinged fall-front and sides decorated overall with courtly chinoiserie figures, bonsai trees and temples in a watery landscape and enclosing a fitted interior with seven variously-sized drawers, similarly decorated with foliate sprays, the trefoil-arcaded stand flanked by niches and floral sprays, on C-scroll bracket headed chamfered square legs carved with Gothic blind-fret panels and guttae feet, re-using lacquer from a 17th Century Chinese screen, one drawer with pencil inscription 2, 2, 3, 4, 56

Details
A GEORGE III CHINESE LAC BURGAUTE AND BLACK AND GILT-JAPANNED SECRETAIRE CABINET-ON-STAND, the three-quarter galleried rectangular top with ball finials, above a pierced fretwork galleried shelf with shaped C-scroll brackets, the rectangular top with hinged fall-front and sides decorated overall with courtly chinoiserie figures, bonsai trees and temples in a watery landscape and enclosing a fitted interior with seven variously-sized drawers, similarly decorated with foliate sprays, the trefoil-arcaded stand flanked by niches and floral sprays, on C-scroll bracket headed chamfered square legs carved with Gothic blind-fret panels and guttae feet, re-using lacquer from a 17th Century Chinese screen, one drawer with pencil inscription 2, 2, 3, 4, 56
26in. (66cm) high; 61in. (155cm) high; 18¼in. (46.5cm) deep
Provenance
Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt., Trent Park, Hertfordshire, recorded in Sir Philip's Bedroom in 1939
Literature
C. Hussey, 'Japanned Furniture at Trent Park', Country Life, 18 October 1930, p. 498, fig. 4
P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924-7, rev. edn. 1954, I, p. 185, fig. 43
R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 101, fig. 30

Lot Essay

This china-display cabinet, with two tiered Chinese railed gallery, incorporates Chinese lacquered panels, and is japanned en suite in the Oriental manner. Its stand, serving as a frame for a large Chinese vase, has a 'gothic' arched-and-niched rail and Chinese fretted pilasters terminating in Doric guttae feet. The eclectic style typifies the fanciful architectural melange recommended for the furnishing of a Lady's apartment in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754-63. For instance his 'China Shelves' pattern (No. CXLI) dated 1761 features the trellised fretwork found on the legs, while the guttaed-pilasters feature on the stand of a 'Chinese Cabinet' (No. CXXIII). A related pair of exotic china cabinets, japanned in the Oriental manner, were supplied in the early 1750s for the 4th Duke of Beaufort's (1709-1759) chinoiserie bedroom apartment at Badminton, Gloucestershire (H. Hayward, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, II, fig. 218)

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