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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
R.W. Symonds, The Present State of Old English Furniture, London, 1921, fig. 99.
M. Jourdain, 'Mr. C.D. Rotch's Collection of Furniture, Part 1', Country Life, 7 June 1924, p. 937, fig. 1.
P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924-27, vol. I, fig. 77.
R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. I, p. 87, fig. 24
A near identical bookcase, dating from the eighteenth century, and possibly by Wright and Elwick, formerly in the collection of Mr Claude D. Rotch, was sold Christie's, London, 28 November 2002, lot 110 (£100,150, including premium).
This impressive pedimented bookcase, conceived in the 'Roman' manner, epitomises the variety of the style popularised by Thomas Chippendale in his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754. Its general form, comprising a 'commode' base with nest-of-drawers, corresponds to Chippendale's 'Library Bookcase' pattern (pl. LXII). The glazing with octagon compartments, together with the arcaded entablature beneath an open pediment, also featured in bookcase patterns, published by Robert Sayer in A Society of Upholsterers, Cabinet-Makers etc., Household Furniture in Genteel Taste, pt. II, 1760, pls. 37 and 36. The base features a double-braced Chinese fret pattern which, like its scalloped cornice, is found in Chippendale's 'China Case' pattern of 1761 (illustrated in the 3rd edition of the Director, 1762 (pl. CXXXVII).
R.W. Symonds, The Present State of Old English Furniture, London, 1921, fig. 99.
M. Jourdain, 'Mr. C.D. Rotch's Collection of Furniture, Part 1', Country Life, 7 June 1924, p. 937, fig. 1.
P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924-27, vol. I, fig. 77.
R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. I, p. 87, fig. 24
A near identical bookcase, dating from the eighteenth century, and possibly by Wright and Elwick, formerly in the collection of Mr Claude D. Rotch, was sold Christie's, London, 28 November 2002, lot 110 (£100,150, including premium).
This impressive pedimented bookcase, conceived in the 'Roman' manner, epitomises the variety of the style popularised by Thomas Chippendale in his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754. Its general form, comprising a 'commode' base with nest-of-drawers, corresponds to Chippendale's 'Library Bookcase' pattern (pl. LXII). The glazing with octagon compartments, together with the arcaded entablature beneath an open pediment, also featured in bookcase patterns, published by Robert Sayer in A Society of Upholsterers, Cabinet-Makers etc., Household Furniture in Genteel Taste, pt. II, 1760, pls. 37 and 36. The base features a double-braced Chinese fret pattern which, like its scalloped cornice, is found in Chippendale's 'China Case' pattern of 1761 (illustrated in the 3rd edition of the Director, 1762 (pl. CXXXVII).