This unusual pair of commodes bears all the hallmarks of Mayhew and Ince's style of the late 1770s and 1780s as evidenced by their documented and attributed work. The use of striking veneers, in this case of satinwood but often of yew, set off by ebonised borders and embellished with sparingly used floral marquetry relying on fine engraving for effect has already been identified as especially characteristic of their work throughtout their long careers (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 593). The unusually fresh engraving on these commodes is of the greatest delicacy, for example the shading on the husks framing the ovals at the sides is varied to give the illusion of being lit from the side (suivant l'ombre in the manner of J.-H. Riesener). All the other distinctive features recur as leitmotifs all through their oeuvre, for example the box-like geometric shape with canted side cupboards, the wheel-pattern paterae, the ormolu wreath handles, the 'therm' legs, neat ebonised and boxwood line borders and the illusionistic incorporation of the crossbanding at the sides of the drawers to avoid destroying the balance, are all found on furniture supplied as part of the major commissions for clients such as the 6th Earl of Coventry (furniture supplied for Croome Court and 29 Piccadilly 1764-1794) and 9th Earl of Exeter (furniture supplied for Burghley House and Lower Grosvenor Street 1767-1779).

Among a particularly closely related group of furniture supplied by the firm to the 2nd Viscount Palmerston at Broadlands is a satinwood bureau which is so close in feeling that it might almost have been made en suite (H. Roberts, 'Towards an English Louis Seize. Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire-II', Country Life, 5 February 1981, p. 346, fig. 1). So far no bills for the Broadlands furniture have come to light but there are payments to Mayhew and Ince in Lord Palmerston's personal account book for 1785-1797 totalling #1,939 9s 0d with evidence that the association with the firm was already well established before 1785. The satinwood bureau may be identifiable with the 'Secretary made by Ince (17)82' noted by Lady Palmerston in the 1797 inventory of her rooms