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Lot Essay
This clothes-press, made of Indian rosewood, inlaid with exotic foliage and flowers in ivory with intricately engraved resin or ‘lac’ detail, undoubtedly inspired by fashionable Indian chintz textiles, is typical of the fine work for which the East-Indian port of Vizagapatam, on the Coromandel Coast, became justly renowned. Vizagapatam furniture was enthusiastically collected by the ‘nabobs’, conspicuously wealthy Europeans and employees of the East India Company (EIC), such as Sir Edward Harrison (d. 1732) of Balls Park, Hertfordshire, Governor of Fort St. George (Madras) from 1711-17, who made their fortune on the Indian subcontinent (see Christie’s, London, 7 July 2011, lots 14-17, for a series of Vizagapatam furniture from the collection of Harrison's descendants, Raynham Hall, Norfolk).
THE DESIGN
Although the vast majority of Vizagapatam wares are small in scale, often in the form of work-boxes, tea-caddies and miniature bureaux - such as that for which Thomas Chippendale supplied a stand in 1767 at Mersham-Le-Hatch (1) - larger, higher status pieces of furniture were also made, such as the bureau-cabinet and dressing-table acquired by Richard Benyon, Governor of Fort St. George from 1734 to 1744, now at Englefield House, Berkshire (2). The decoration of this press shows the combination of both ivory inlay and engraved-ivory veneered edge banding widely adopted in the mid-18th century during the transitional phase between the earlier technique of wholly-inlaid decoration and the later fashion for veneering pieces entirely in ivory; the latter becoming common practice from the 1770s onwards. The borders of densely scrolling foliage relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated by Amin Jaffer (3). This mode of decoration was also notably employed to the dressing-bureau from the collection of ‘Clive of India’ (1724-74) Commander-in-Chief of British India, now in the collection of The National Trust, Powis Castle, Powys, (4) and another given by Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first de facto Governor-General of India, to his goddaughter Amelia Maria Alt in 1789.
The cabinet trade in Vizagapatam was already well established at the end of the 17th century when local craft skills using ivory inlay set in contrast on grounds of teak, padouk, rosewood or ebony were married to interpretations of western furniture forms. There was also a flourishing textile trade as Vizagapatam was a centre of production for the colourful cloth known as ‘chints’ (chintz), which was in high demand in the west, and consequently the port was a regular destination for EIC ships, although the transportation of furniture fell under the remit of private, rather than EIC, trade, which explains why it doesn’t feature in EIC records. The trade in textiles was the very reason for much European settlement in the region with an English textile factory established in the port in 1668, while the Dutch trading post at Bimlipatam had been founded as early as 1628. An inventory of 1641 shows that ‘chints’ was being used to decorate whole rooms in Britain; ‘a suite of hangings Consisting of Foure pieces of Indian Pantadoes & Curtaynes of the same suite for the same Roome, And a Canopy of the same suite with a valence thereunto. Pantadoe Carpetts for the same Roome’ (5). The quality of the work was noted by Major John Corneille in Vizagapatam in 1756, who wrote that the chintz 'is esteemed the best in India for the brightness of its colours' and 'the place is likewise remarkable for its inlay work, and justly, for they do it to the greatest perfection' (6). Thus, the elaborate inlay work of this linen press employs the exotic indigenous flowers and foliage framing a boldly drawn central tree design, which is a close derivative of bordered tree patterns frequently seen in the chintz textiles, so beloved by Europeans. Furthermore, the small plant-like tendrils that form a ground for the broad borders are also characteristic of chintz fabrics, further illustrating the link.
RELATED CLOTHES-PRESSES
Vizagapatam Clothes-presses, such as this, are particularly rare, with few examples recorded. One, of almost identical design, from the collection of the Earl of Craven, was photographed for Country Life, in situ in the Brocatelle room at Coombe Abbey in 1909 (7) and another, with the addition of a broken pediment, was, formerly at Shottesbroke Park, White Waltham, Berkshire, and was sold from the collection of Sir John Smith, CBE, Christie's, London, 15 November 1990, lot 111. Another press, displaying identical bamboo and palm marquetry but with three long drawers to the base section, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's, London, 8 October 1965, lot 64 and a further closely related mid-18th century linen press, with broader marquetry borders (reconstructed in England in the late 18th/19th century) was sold in Le Goût Steinitz III, Christie's London, 6 December 2007, lot 391 (£180,500).
(1) P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing of Mersham-Le-Hatch - Part 1', Apollo, April 1970, p. 277, fig. 13.
(2) A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p. 182, fig. 81 and p. 187, fig. 85.
(3) Ibid, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42.
(4) Ibid p. 172, fig. 73.
(5) J. Irwin, K.B. Brett, Origins of Chintz, London, 1970, p. 25.
(6) M. Edwardes and J. Corneille, Journal of my Service in India, London, 1966, pp. 100-101.
(7) H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Period IV, Late Stuart, 1649-1714, Vol. I, London 1929, p. 171, fig. 227.
THE DESIGN
Although the vast majority of Vizagapatam wares are small in scale, often in the form of work-boxes, tea-caddies and miniature bureaux - such as that for which Thomas Chippendale supplied a stand in 1767 at Mersham-Le-Hatch (1) - larger, higher status pieces of furniture were also made, such as the bureau-cabinet and dressing-table acquired by Richard Benyon, Governor of Fort St. George from 1734 to 1744, now at Englefield House, Berkshire (2). The decoration of this press shows the combination of both ivory inlay and engraved-ivory veneered edge banding widely adopted in the mid-18th century during the transitional phase between the earlier technique of wholly-inlaid decoration and the later fashion for veneering pieces entirely in ivory; the latter becoming common practice from the 1770s onwards. The borders of densely scrolling foliage relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated by Amin Jaffer (3). This mode of decoration was also notably employed to the dressing-bureau from the collection of ‘Clive of India’ (1724-74) Commander-in-Chief of British India, now in the collection of The National Trust, Powis Castle, Powys, (4) and another given by Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first de facto Governor-General of India, to his goddaughter Amelia Maria Alt in 1789.
The cabinet trade in Vizagapatam was already well established at the end of the 17th century when local craft skills using ivory inlay set in contrast on grounds of teak, padouk, rosewood or ebony were married to interpretations of western furniture forms. There was also a flourishing textile trade as Vizagapatam was a centre of production for the colourful cloth known as ‘chints’ (chintz), which was in high demand in the west, and consequently the port was a regular destination for EIC ships, although the transportation of furniture fell under the remit of private, rather than EIC, trade, which explains why it doesn’t feature in EIC records. The trade in textiles was the very reason for much European settlement in the region with an English textile factory established in the port in 1668, while the Dutch trading post at Bimlipatam had been founded as early as 1628. An inventory of 1641 shows that ‘chints’ was being used to decorate whole rooms in Britain; ‘a suite of hangings Consisting of Foure pieces of Indian Pantadoes & Curtaynes of the same suite for the same Roome, And a Canopy of the same suite with a valence thereunto. Pantadoe Carpetts for the same Roome’ (5). The quality of the work was noted by Major John Corneille in Vizagapatam in 1756, who wrote that the chintz 'is esteemed the best in India for the brightness of its colours' and 'the place is likewise remarkable for its inlay work, and justly, for they do it to the greatest perfection' (6). Thus, the elaborate inlay work of this linen press employs the exotic indigenous flowers and foliage framing a boldly drawn central tree design, which is a close derivative of bordered tree patterns frequently seen in the chintz textiles, so beloved by Europeans. Furthermore, the small plant-like tendrils that form a ground for the broad borders are also characteristic of chintz fabrics, further illustrating the link.
RELATED CLOTHES-PRESSES
Vizagapatam Clothes-presses, such as this, are particularly rare, with few examples recorded. One, of almost identical design, from the collection of the Earl of Craven, was photographed for Country Life, in situ in the Brocatelle room at Coombe Abbey in 1909 (7) and another, with the addition of a broken pediment, was, formerly at Shottesbroke Park, White Waltham, Berkshire, and was sold from the collection of Sir John Smith, CBE, Christie's, London, 15 November 1990, lot 111. Another press, displaying identical bamboo and palm marquetry but with three long drawers to the base section, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's, London, 8 October 1965, lot 64 and a further closely related mid-18th century linen press, with broader marquetry borders (reconstructed in England in the late 18th/19th century) was sold in Le Goût Steinitz III, Christie's London, 6 December 2007, lot 391 (£180,500).
(1) P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing of Mersham-Le-Hatch - Part 1', Apollo, April 1970, p. 277, fig. 13.
(2) A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p. 182, fig. 81 and p. 187, fig. 85.
(3) Ibid, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42.
(4) Ibid p. 172, fig. 73.
(5) J. Irwin, K.B. Brett, Origins of Chintz, London, 1970, p. 25.
(6) M. Edwardes and J. Corneille, Journal of my Service in India, London, 1966, pp. 100-101.
(7) H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Period IV, Late Stuart, 1649-1714, Vol. I, London 1929, p. 171, fig. 227.