CIRCA 1820

This interesting side cabinet dating to the early 19th century is emblematic of the chinoiserie revival as passionately promoted by the Prince of Wales, later George IV. The Prince's fascination with the Orient was first expressed in his creation of the Chinese Drawing Room at Carlton House undertaken by Henry Holland and Dominique Daguerre. In 1802 the Prince began plans for a magnificent Oriental palace, in collaboration with designers John and Frederick Crace. Over the next quarter century they created the fantastical Brighton Pavilion. The work of the Crace family is documented in M. Aldrich Ed., The Craces: Royal Decorators 1768-1899, Brighton, 1990. A side cabinet from the Brighton Pavilion featuring large scale panels of figures in landscapes is illustrated in M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1830, London, 1965, p. 28, fig. 38 and P. Broome, ed., The Hyde Park Collection 1965-1990, Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 316-317. A comparable pair of cabinets was sold Christie's, New York, 2 February 1991, lot 204, while a further cabinet by the renowned japanner Henry Clay was sold Christie's, London, 21 April 1994, lot 137.