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Lot Essay
Most intriguingly a near pair of this unusual commode, similarly decorated with colourful bird-inhabited floral veneers from a late 17th Century cabinet, was sold by Sir William Roberts, Bt, of Strathallan Castle, Perthshire, Christie's London, 12 June 1997, lot 92. Almost certainly acquired in Paris by George Drummond, 6th Duke of Melfort and Perth (d.1902) around the time of his marriage in 1831, the Scottish commode had remained at Strathallan Castle until its sale at Christie's in 1997 and it is quite likely that the two commodes came from the same Parisian workshops.
Epitomising the exotic and antiquarian taste of George IV's court, encouraged by the Parisian and London marchand-merciers such as Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1845), the commodes' 'boulle' or 'buhl' tortoiseshell veneers have much in common with the oeuvre of the 17th century inlayer Leonardo van der Vinne (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, 'The Philippe d'Orléans ivory cabinet by Pierre Gole', Burlington Magazine, June 1984, pp.333-337 and figs.19-20).
Epitomising the exotic and antiquarian taste of George IV's court, encouraged by the Parisian and London marchand-merciers such as Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1845), the commodes' 'boulle' or 'buhl' tortoiseshell veneers have much in common with the oeuvre of the 17th century inlayer Leonardo van der Vinne (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, 'The Philippe d'Orléans ivory cabinet by Pierre Gole', Burlington Magazine, June 1984, pp.333-337 and figs.19-20).