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Lot Essay
The features of the semi-elliptical commode conform with those identified as characteristic of Mayhew and Ince, the celebrated Golden-Square, London cabinet-makers. These were first discussed in Hugh Roberts, 'The Derby House Commode', The Burlington Magazine, vol.CXXVII, no.986, May 1985, pp275 - 283, while a group of related commodes from the collection formed by William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925) at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, are detailed in Lucy Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, 1994.
The commde's top is centred by a sunflower and fan patera which corresponds to a commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince and illustrated in Lucy Wood (ibid, pp.236-238, no.28), while the unusual treatment of the husk or split-leaf that decorates the frieze and borders the painted medallion relates to a commode made from a side table attributed to the firm (L.Wood, ibid, pp.299-302, no.40). The husk wreath bordering the oval panel in the door is similar to that on a serpentine commode in the Leverhulme collection (L.Wood, ibid, pp.217-221, no.24). The overall form of this commode is unusual in that the stiles dividing the doors taper as if it were to have been a side table, with the doors correspondingly shaped. Two similar examples are illustrated in Lucy Wood, ibid, pp.226-235 and 236-238, nos.27 and 28. The original legs would have tapered in line with the stiles but clearly these were delicate and subject to damage, hence the replacement legs of the present lot.
The commde's top is centred by a sunflower and fan patera which corresponds to a commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince and illustrated in Lucy Wood (ibid, pp.236-238, no.28), while the unusual treatment of the husk or split-leaf that decorates the frieze and borders the painted medallion relates to a commode made from a side table attributed to the firm (L.Wood, ibid, pp.299-302, no.40). The husk wreath bordering the oval panel in the door is similar to that on a serpentine commode in the Leverhulme collection (L.Wood, ibid, pp.217-221, no.24). The overall form of this commode is unusual in that the stiles dividing the doors taper as if it were to have been a side table, with the doors correspondingly shaped. Two similar examples are illustrated in Lucy Wood, ibid, pp.226-235 and 236-238, nos.27 and 28. The original legs would have tapered in line with the stiles but clearly these were delicate and subject to damage, hence the replacement legs of the present lot.