MID-18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY PREVIOUSLY FITTED

Details

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY BREAKFRONT BOOKCASE
MID-18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY PREVIOUSLY FITTED
The lappeted and dentilled cornice with egg-and-shell border above a Greek-key frieze with flowerhead border, above a pair of geometrically-glazed doors with ribbon-and-rosette carved astragals, each enclosing four adjustable shelves, flanked on each side by a conforming glazed door enclosing four adjustable shelves and a door enclosing one shelf, on a plinth base with ribbon-and-rosette carved border, later Bramah & Co. locks and later hinges, one pane cracked, nine shelves replaced, the previously projecting side returns of the top section now reduced in depth, restorations
114 in. (290 cm.) high; 163 in. (414 cm.) wide; 18½ in. (47 cm.) deep

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The bookcase's Roman mosaic glazing, of cut-cornered tablets and lozenged compartments, corresponds to a pattern invented by the St.Martin’s Lane cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale (d.1779) for his, Gentleman and Cabinet-Makers Director 1754 (pl.125) and reissued in the 3rd ed. 1762 (pl. 101). While the Grecian ribbon-fret cut in the cornice reflects the antique style popularised around 1760 by James Stuart (d.1788), artist, architect and author The Antiquities of Athens, 1762. (see The Spencer House clothes-press illustrated, D.Watkin, Athenian Stuart, London, 1982, fig 37).

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