Lot 91

A GEORGE III ORMOLU-MOUNTED SATINWOOD, KINGWOOD AND PADOUK CROSSBANDED AND MARQUETRY COMMODE

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PROPERTY FROM DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR (LOTS 89 - 95)

A GEORGE III ORMOLU-MOUNTED SATINWOOD, KINGWOOD AND PADOUK CROSSBANDED AND MARQUETRY COMMODE

CIRCA 1775-80, POSSIBLY BY WILLIAM GATES

Details

A GEORGE III ORMOLU-MOUNTED SATINWOOD, KINGWOOD AND PADOUK CROSSBANDED AND MARQUETRY COMMODE
CIRCA 1775-80, POSSIBLY BY WILLIAM GATES
The inverted breakfront top inlaid with a central neo-classical fan and flowerhead roundels, above a frieze drawer and a cupboard door enclosing three drawers, flanked by side doors enclosing three small drawers, the front inlaid with classical urns and bat's-wing paterae on square tapering legs and lotus leaf caps, with Leverhulme label 'x1211 satinwood commode' and ivorine 'Moss Harris' trade label
35 ½ in. (90 cm.) high; 48 ¾ in. (124 cm.) wide; 18 ½ in. (47 cm.) deep

Provenance

Sir Squire Bancroft, Berkeley Square, London.
With D.L.Isaacs, London, sold to Viscount Leverhulme , 25 May 1916 (£121.5s).
1st Viscount Leverhulme, property removed from Cheshire (chiefly Thornton Manor), sold Knight, Frank
& Rutley, London, 3 - 4 June 1926, lot 301 (£52.10S).
With Moss Harris & Son, London.
With Partridge, London where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

M. Harris & Son, A Catalogue and Index of Old Furniture and Works of Decorative Art, circa 1930, vol. III, p.361, no. F14831.
L. Wood, A Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, p.330, no, X1211.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Carys Bingham

cbingham@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2350

Lot Essay

This rectilinear breakfront commode with its fine marquetry inlay and engraved woodwork recalls the craftsmanship of the Royal cabinet-maker, ‘tradesman to the Great Wardrobe’, William Gates of St. Martin’s Lane, London (d. after 1800). As the successor to John Bradburn, Gates is first recorded in the Lord Chamberlain’s Great Wardrobe accounts in July 1777. From 1780, he was supplying satinwood and inlaid furniture to the Prince of Wales, later George IV, for his apartments in the Queen’s House, St. James’s Park (Buckingham Palace), including a pair of ‘very fine Sattin wood inlaid commode Tables’, with a writing drawer in the frieze (RCIN 2475). His oeuvre is characterised by the inclusion of large scale neo-classical marquetry urns often in oval or rectilinear panels, starkly contrasting veneers, engraving, and shading to create pictorial illusion.

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