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Lot Essay
This inverted breakfront cabinet of finely figured timber is designed in the French/Grecian manner introduced by George Bullock (d. 1818) in the early 19th Century. Bullock, cabinetmaker of London and Liverpool and President of the Liverpool Academy which was founded in 1810, opened workshops at 4 Tenterden Street, Hanover Square in 1814. He had been involved with his brother, the sculptor William Bullock, in the establishment of the 'Grecian Rooms' at his Piccadilly 'Museum' four years previously.
This cabinet incorporates a number of elements characteristic to known Bullock examples, such as the double-heart-shaped brass grilles and the use of the exotic goncalo alves timber, both found on a pair of bookcases after a design for the Breakfast Room of the exiled Emperor Napoleon's residence at New Longwood House on St. Helena. One of these bookcases was sold in these Rooms, 30 April 1997, lot 139. The other is illustrated in C. Wainwright, George Bullock Cabinet-Maker, London, 1988, p. 102, pl.39. Bullock's frequent use of exotic timber and brass ornament is supported by the catalogue of the sale of his stock in trade, sold a year after his death from 13 to 15 May 1819. It listed large quantities of mahoganies, ebony and other exotic woods, as well as numerous brass and ormolu 'cabinet ornaments'. (See M. Levy, 'George Bullock's Partnership with Charles Fraser, 1813-1818, and the Stock-In-Trade Sale, 1819', Furniture History, 1989, p. 145-213). A number of other related cabinets are known, such as a cabinet in rosewood and mahogany with similar dual rows of short drawers enclosed by heart-shaped brass grilles which is reportedly stamped G. Bullock on the drawer fronts, illustrated in C. Wainwright, et. al., George Bullock Cabinet-Maker, London, 1988, p.66, fig. 24.
It is possible that the replaced rosewood panels to the central doors of this cabinet were originally inset with further brass grilles or with panels incorporating brass inlay, another distinctive technique for which Bullock was known.
This cabinet incorporates a number of elements characteristic to known Bullock examples, such as the double-heart-shaped brass grilles and the use of the exotic goncalo alves timber, both found on a pair of bookcases after a design for the Breakfast Room of the exiled Emperor Napoleon's residence at New Longwood House on St. Helena. One of these bookcases was sold in these Rooms, 30 April 1997, lot 139. The other is illustrated in C. Wainwright, George Bullock Cabinet-Maker, London, 1988, p. 102, pl.39. Bullock's frequent use of exotic timber and brass ornament is supported by the catalogue of the sale of his stock in trade, sold a year after his death from 13 to 15 May 1819. It listed large quantities of mahoganies, ebony and other exotic woods, as well as numerous brass and ormolu 'cabinet ornaments'. (See M. Levy, 'George Bullock's Partnership with Charles Fraser, 1813-1818, and the Stock-In-Trade Sale, 1819', Furniture History, 1989, p. 145-213). A number of other related cabinets are known, such as a cabinet in rosewood and mahogany with similar dual rows of short drawers enclosed by heart-shaped brass grilles which is reportedly stamped G. Bullock on the drawer fronts, illustrated in C. Wainwright, et. al., George Bullock Cabinet-Maker, London, 1988, p.66, fig. 24.
It is possible that the replaced rosewood panels to the central doors of this cabinet were originally inset with further brass grilles or with panels incorporating brass inlay, another distinctive technique for which Bullock was known.