Lot Essay
This ormolu-grilled pier-commode, of tripartite form framed by elegant pilasters in the French manner, is veneered with exotic Goncalo Alves wood from Brazil. This timber was greatly prized in the early 19th Century, when it was commonly known as 'zebrawood' according to Thomas Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary, 1803. This commode is likely to have been supplied for a library, as its veneer corresponds to that of the portfolio desk-cabinet, while the silk upholstery of its doors would no doubt have corresponded to the room's curtains. Its style and portcullis-grill featured in The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified of 1835, which was issued by Thomas King, 'Upholsterer' of Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. King, a devotee of the French style, noted about his designs that 'as far as possible the English style is carefully blended with Parisian taste' (E. Joy, British 19th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, 1977, p.442).