Lot Essay
This breakfront commode, designed in the French 'antique' manner, with its oval 'medallion' borders, 'hollow' corners and Roman acanthus-flowered escutcheon, relates closely to the work of William Vile (d. 1767) of 72 St. Martin's Lane. Under the direction of the Court architect Sir William Chambers (d. 1796), Vile, together with his imperious partner John Cobb (d. 1778), supplied much of the furniture for King George III and Queen Charlotte's State Apartments at Buckingham House from 1761 - 65, and it is to this group that this commode bears the closest affinity. In particular, the floral-patera re-entrant corners correspond to those on the bookcase 'with plate Glass Doors' supplied by Vile and Cobb for Queen Charlotte in 1762 (see: Coleridge, op. cit., p. 175, fig. 14), while the form of the central acanthus-flowered escutcheon within a 'medallion' tied by acanthus scrolls to a central baton and framed within 'spandrel' compartments, derives from the façade of the set of nine organ-roll cabinets attributed to Vile and Cobb (Coleridge, op. cit., p. 175, fig. 16).
In its serpentine form, this commode belongs to a small group, in the majority attributed to Vile, but also to Vile and Cobb's specialist carver John Bradburn (d. 1781), who succeeded his master as Royal Cabinet Maker to George III around 1764. A pair of breakfront commodes from the Earls of Leven and Melville in the collection of H. J. Joel, Childwick Bury (sold Christie's house sale, 15 May 1978, lot 68, see: M. Jourdain and F. Rose, English Furniture: The Georgian Period (1750 - 1830), London, 1953, p. 149, fig. 118) display an almost identical acanthus-enriched medallion, while a bedroom commode of serpentine form (also from the collection of H. J. Joel and lot 81 in the Childwick Bury sale, see: R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. edn., 1954, vol. III, p. 112, fig. 5) shares both this central circular medallion and the 'oval' medallion to the sides. It is interesting to note, therefore, that these commodes are all surmounted by a slate top with pierced gilt-bronze border. The unusual fixture of the top of the present commode would therefore suggest that it, too, was possibly intended to have a similar slate top. However, the pair to the Joel Bedroom Commode (lot 81), sold from the collection of Her Late Royal Highness, The Princess Royal (these Rooms, 25 November 1976, lot 130), was similarly adorned with a mahogany top, and the timber of the present lot does appear to match that of the base.
Perhaps the closest parallel is the base of the 'mahogany press for linenn....the pannels cross banded, and Roses in the corner of the framing', supplied for Buckingham House in 1770 by Vile's apprentice John Bradburn of Long Acre (see: Coleridge, op. cit, fig. 388). Of slightly later date, its undulating serpentine form displays many of the characteristics of Bradburn's master, but it is of a lighter, more restrained and less monumental character than this richly carved commode
In its serpentine form, this commode belongs to a small group, in the majority attributed to Vile, but also to Vile and Cobb's specialist carver John Bradburn (d. 1781), who succeeded his master as Royal Cabinet Maker to George III around 1764. A pair of breakfront commodes from the Earls of Leven and Melville in the collection of H. J. Joel, Childwick Bury (sold Christie's house sale, 15 May 1978, lot 68, see: M. Jourdain and F. Rose, English Furniture: The Georgian Period (1750 - 1830), London, 1953, p. 149, fig. 118) display an almost identical acanthus-enriched medallion, while a bedroom commode of serpentine form (also from the collection of H. J. Joel and lot 81 in the Childwick Bury sale, see: R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. edn., 1954, vol. III, p. 112, fig. 5) shares both this central circular medallion and the 'oval' medallion to the sides. It is interesting to note, therefore, that these commodes are all surmounted by a slate top with pierced gilt-bronze border. The unusual fixture of the top of the present commode would therefore suggest that it, too, was possibly intended to have a similar slate top. However, the pair to the Joel Bedroom Commode (lot 81), sold from the collection of Her Late Royal Highness, The Princess Royal (these Rooms, 25 November 1976, lot 130), was similarly adorned with a mahogany top, and the timber of the present lot does appear to match that of the base.
Perhaps the closest parallel is the base of the 'mahogany press for linenn....the pannels cross banded, and Roses in the corner of the framing', supplied for Buckingham House in 1770 by Vile's apprentice John Bradburn of Long Acre (see: Coleridge, op. cit, fig. 388). Of slightly later date, its undulating serpentine form displays many of the characteristics of Bradburn's master, but it is of a lighter, more restrained and less monumental character than this richly carved commode