Lot Essay
THE ORNAMENT
The elliptical commode's marquetry top, rayed from a flowered, scalloped, and husk-enriched pattera, is wreathed by beribboned laurels in a golden ribbon border. It is conceived as a 'commode pier-table', with its frieze inlaid with Doric fluted triglyphs accompanied by 'marbled' patterae. The latter are set above pilasters that are flowered with Grecian palms and Roman acanthus and terminate in hermed feet. A 'marbled' oval pattera is inlaid horizontally in the rectangular tablet of the central door, while those at the sides are vertical. The commode's form and medallioned ornament relates to that of an 'Etruscan' fashioned commode illustrated in Robert and James Adam's, Works in Architecture, 1773-8; while its Roman medallioned and fluted frieze and arabesque 'palm' pilasters would have been inspired by their architectural ornament for Syon House, Middlesex illustrated in their Works, l773 (no. 11).
WILLIAM MOORE OF DUBLIN
The commode's pilaster enrichments also appear on an elliptical and pattera-centred commode, that bears the ivory label of the Dublin cabinet-maker William Moore (d. 1814). The latter is likely to have been acquired by William Henry Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Portland (d. 1809), while serving as George III's Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1782. Moore was established around l780 at 'The Inlaid Cabinet Wareroom' in Abbey Street, and his signature appear on an elliptical pianoforte case, which likewise displays a 'marbled' patterae frieze (see C. Musgrave, Adam and Hepplewhite and other neo-classical Furniture, London, 1966, fig. 170).
Moore's advertisement for his 'Inlaid work' included mention of his manufacture of 'Pier-Tables...in the newest taste' and appeared in the Dublin Evening Post of 1782 (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 622). He credited the 'perfection' of his work to his 'long experience at Messrs. Mayhew and Ince, London' and boasted of his 'remarkable fine coloured woods, and elegant finished work'. Indeed it is likely that he was one of the 'inlayers' responsible for Messrs. Mayhew and Ince's celebrated marble-enriched cabinet that was executed to Robert Adam's design of l77l for the Duchess of Manchester (see M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, l982, pp. 106 and 107).
The inlay of the top is a refined version of that of a commode at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is amongst a remarkable group of tables and commodes attributed to his workshops (ibid., p. l76). Included in the group is a pair of commodes likely to have been acquired for Lismore Castle, Ireland by William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (d. l8ll) (sold by Lady Binning, in these Rooms, ll July l929, lot 39).
ROBERT STRAHAN & CO.
This commode bears the remains of the label of Robert Strahan & Co. who were cabinet-makers, auctioneers and retailers in Dublin from the last quarter of the 18th Century and throughout the 19th Century. In the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin they described themselves as 'Designers and Manufacturers', and in 1864 they exhibited again at the Dublin Exhibition (The Knight of Glin, 'Dublin Directories and Trade Labels', Furniture History, 1985, pp. 271-272). Their label also appears on lots 161 and 164 in this sale.
The elliptical commode's marquetry top, rayed from a flowered, scalloped, and husk-enriched pattera, is wreathed by beribboned laurels in a golden ribbon border. It is conceived as a 'commode pier-table', with its frieze inlaid with Doric fluted triglyphs accompanied by 'marbled' patterae. The latter are set above pilasters that are flowered with Grecian palms and Roman acanthus and terminate in hermed feet. A 'marbled' oval pattera is inlaid horizontally in the rectangular tablet of the central door, while those at the sides are vertical. The commode's form and medallioned ornament relates to that of an 'Etruscan' fashioned commode illustrated in Robert and James Adam's, Works in Architecture, 1773-8; while its Roman medallioned and fluted frieze and arabesque 'palm' pilasters would have been inspired by their architectural ornament for Syon House, Middlesex illustrated in their Works, l773 (no. 11).
WILLIAM MOORE OF DUBLIN
The commode's pilaster enrichments also appear on an elliptical and pattera-centred commode, that bears the ivory label of the Dublin cabinet-maker William Moore (d. 1814). The latter is likely to have been acquired by William Henry Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Portland (d. 1809), while serving as George III's Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1782. Moore was established around l780 at 'The Inlaid Cabinet Wareroom' in Abbey Street, and his signature appear on an elliptical pianoforte case, which likewise displays a 'marbled' patterae frieze (see C. Musgrave, Adam and Hepplewhite and other neo-classical Furniture, London, 1966, fig. 170).
Moore's advertisement for his 'Inlaid work' included mention of his manufacture of 'Pier-Tables...in the newest taste' and appeared in the Dublin Evening Post of 1782 (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 622). He credited the 'perfection' of his work to his 'long experience at Messrs. Mayhew and Ince, London' and boasted of his 'remarkable fine coloured woods, and elegant finished work'. Indeed it is likely that he was one of the 'inlayers' responsible for Messrs. Mayhew and Ince's celebrated marble-enriched cabinet that was executed to Robert Adam's design of l77l for the Duchess of Manchester (see M. Tomlin, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture, London, l982, pp. 106 and 107).
The inlay of the top is a refined version of that of a commode at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is amongst a remarkable group of tables and commodes attributed to his workshops (ibid., p. l76). Included in the group is a pair of commodes likely to have been acquired for Lismore Castle, Ireland by William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (d. l8ll) (sold by Lady Binning, in these Rooms, ll July l929, lot 39).
ROBERT STRAHAN & CO.
This commode bears the remains of the label of Robert Strahan & Co. who were cabinet-makers, auctioneers and retailers in Dublin from the last quarter of the 18th Century and throughout the 19th Century. In the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin they described themselves as 'Designers and Manufacturers', and in 1864 they exhibited again at the Dublin Exhibition (The Knight of Glin, 'Dublin Directories and Trade Labels', Furniture History, 1985, pp. 271-272). Their label also appears on lots 161 and 164 in this sale.