OF GEORGE III STYLE

The present piece is typical of the late 19th Century fashion for Adam revival furniture and interiors. The leading proponent collector of this type of furniture was William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme who spent much of his collecting life assembling a magnificent group of English furniture. Leverhulme's aim, aided by fellow collectors such as James Orrock and, before him, 1st Lord Tweedmouth, was to establish and popularise the style of English furniture of the last quarter of the 18th Century, in particular the Adam style of furniture. Through the study of Antique design, Adam created what was perceived by Leverhulme and his fellow collectors as a 'British' or 'English' style and in so doing had superceded the earlier designs by Thomas Chippendale and Matthias Lock in their use, and in some cases reliance on French rococo designs. This process was mirrored by the popularity in the mid to late 19th Century of firms such as Wright and Mansfield 'whose taste and knowledge of the Adams period of decoration was unrivalled' (L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, p. 28).

A closely related pair of commodes, one possibly the present piece (but not illustrated) was sold from the property of Lt. Col. A. Heywood-Lonsdale, M.C., Shavington Hall, Market Drayton, Shropshire, in these Rooms, 6 June 1957, lot 141. Another commode was sold by D. K. F. Heathcote, Esq., removed from Badlingham Manor, Suffolk, Vosts, Newmarket, 16 September 1999, lot 32 (£36,000 inc. premium).