MID-18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF GILES GRENDEY, POSSIBLY IRISH

The serpentine panels of this bureau-cabinet relate to those of a bed, with antiquarian panelled headboard and canopy, acquired for Knebworth House, Hertfordshire in the 1740s and attributed to the Clerkenwell cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (d. 1780). The bed was sold by Lady Cobbold, in these Rooms, 14 November 1996, lot 36 (£65,300, including premium). Another firmly Grendey attribute is the hairy-paw feet, which correspond to those of a suite of furniture, believed to have been supplied by Grendey in the late 1730s for the State apartments at Longford Castle, Wiltshire (illustrated in R. Edwards and M. Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet-Makers, London, rev. ed,, 1955, fig. 48).

Another closely related bureau-cabinet is illustrated in R.W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II, London, 1929, p. 245, fig. 210 (detail p. 191, fig. 149).