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Lot Essay
The fine Chinese lacquer and japanned commode is one of a distinguished group of virtually identical commodes that share the same bowed and serpentine form, have concave sides and shaped aprons and are veneered with similar Chinese lacquer panels framed by English japanned surrounds, and in addition feature similar distinctive lacquered brass or ormolu mounts. They were undoubtedly supplied by the same cabinet-maker and include: two pairs of commodes at Uppark, Sussex, probably commissioned by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, of which one pair remains at Uppark while the second pair was sold Christie’s, London, 20 May 1971, lot 90 (£40,000); at least three commodes of this model in the collection of Francis Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford, at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, of which one sold Christie’s, London, 30 June 1921, lot 24, now at Polesden Lacy, Surrey, and a pair sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 1996, lot 300 (£309,000 including premium), and again from the collections of Lily and Edmond J. Safra, Sotheby's, New York, 3 - 4 November 2005, lot 135 ($492,000 including premium); a single commode from the collection of Lady Agnes Peel, sold Christie's, London, 24 April 1958, lot 70 (1700 gns), which featured ormolu mounts almost identical to the present lot.
Perhaps the best known of the comparable examples are the celebrated Ashburnham lacquer commodes, almost certainly supplied around 1760 to John, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham for either Ashburnham Place, Sussex, or else for its namesake on Dover Street, London. These were sold from another Symonds collection Christie's, London, 16 November 1995, lot 67 (£496,500 including premium).
These commodes were evidently commissioned as pairs, each pair differing slightly in the lacquer, which was taken from imported Chinese screens, and the japanned decoration to the borders. The present commode displays on its top a remarkable arrangement of oval and circular panels depicting animals and birds in landscapes and flower baskets while the spaces between are japanned in imitation of the Chinese craft as promoted and described in Stalker and Parker’s Treatise on Japanning of 1688.
While the cabinet-maker cannot be identified with certainty, they correspond closely to the work of Pierre Langlois, the craftsman of French descent who, by 1760, had established his workshop at Tottenham Court Road near Windmill Street. Langlois, who was celebrated as an 'inlayer' in marquetry as well as boulle work, is credited with the introduction of the French fashion for moulded-lacquer furniture. Amongst his Francophile patrons was the connoisseur Horace Walpole (d.1797), who transformed one of his early 18th Century Chinese screens into veneer for a pair of Langlois commodes and four matching corner-cupboards, which he displayed in 1763 in the gallery or room-of-entertainment at Strawberry Hill, Middlesex. The career and oeuvre of Langlois was described in detail in a series of articles series of articles by Peter Thornton and William Rieder, 'Pierre Langlois, Ebéniste I - V', The Connoisseur, December 1971- May 1972. Intriguingly, the Expenditure Accounts for Ragley for the years 1757-62 list payments to a ‘Mr. Reignier’ ‘lacerman’ on 28 February 1760 for £125.16s and 21st January 1762 for £20 8s; ‘Mr. Reignier’ was undoubtedly French and so may have been in Langlois's employ though to date he is not recorded elsewhere.
Perhaps the best known of the comparable examples are the celebrated Ashburnham lacquer commodes, almost certainly supplied around 1760 to John, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham for either Ashburnham Place, Sussex, or else for its namesake on Dover Street, London. These were sold from another Symonds collection Christie's, London, 16 November 1995, lot 67 (£496,500 including premium).
These commodes were evidently commissioned as pairs, each pair differing slightly in the lacquer, which was taken from imported Chinese screens, and the japanned decoration to the borders. The present commode displays on its top a remarkable arrangement of oval and circular panels depicting animals and birds in landscapes and flower baskets while the spaces between are japanned in imitation of the Chinese craft as promoted and described in Stalker and Parker’s Treatise on Japanning of 1688.
While the cabinet-maker cannot be identified with certainty, they correspond closely to the work of Pierre Langlois, the craftsman of French descent who, by 1760, had established his workshop at Tottenham Court Road near Windmill Street. Langlois, who was celebrated as an 'inlayer' in marquetry as well as boulle work, is credited with the introduction of the French fashion for moulded-lacquer furniture. Amongst his Francophile patrons was the connoisseur Horace Walpole (d.1797), who transformed one of his early 18th Century Chinese screens into veneer for a pair of Langlois commodes and four matching corner-cupboards, which he displayed in 1763 in the gallery or room-of-entertainment at Strawberry Hill, Middlesex. The career and oeuvre of Langlois was described in detail in a series of articles series of articles by Peter Thornton and William Rieder, 'Pierre Langlois, Ebéniste I - V', The Connoisseur, December 1971- May 1972. Intriguingly, the Expenditure Accounts for Ragley for the years 1757-62 list payments to a ‘Mr. Reignier’ ‘lacerman’ on 28 February 1760 for £125.16s and 21st January 1762 for £20 8s; ‘Mr. Reignier’ was undoubtedly French and so may have been in Langlois's employ though to date he is not recorded elsewhere.