Lot Essay
The commode is designed in Adam's Etruscan style which he first introduced in his work for Lord Stanley (who succeeded as 12th Earl of Derby in 1776) at his London house in Grosvenor Square, which Adam began to remodel in 1773. Lady Derby's bedroom and dressing-room, at the end of sumptuous enfilade of drawing-rooms on the first floor, was decorated entirely in this new style and the Etruscan theme extended to all the accompanying furniture, for which Adam prepared designs in 1774 and 1775 (E. Harris, The Furniture of Robert Adam, London, 1973, figs. 68, 93, 116, 127).
The most celebrated piece of furniture from Lady Derby's apartment was the bow-fronted commode 'in the Countess of Derby's Dressing Room', which has recently been identified as the work of Mayhew and Ince (H. Roberts, 'The Derby House Commode', Burlington Magazine, May 1985, pp.275-283). Adam's two preparatory drawings for it are dated 1774 and the engraved plate was published in The Works in Architecture in 1779 (Vol. II, pt.1, pl. VIII). The Derby House commode was among the very first bow-fronted examples to be executed. Adam's design for a semi-elliptical commode for the Duke of Bolton, probably never realized, is dated January 1773 (op. cit.,fig. 3), the same date as the partial designs for the pair of commodes in the drawing-room at Osterley (op. cit., fig. 4). In the later 1770's and 1780's Adam's basic format, established with the Osterley and Derby House commodes, was repeated on a large number of versions.
The Derby House commode is the only fully documented Adam commode to survive - it was supplied in 1775 by Mayhew and Ince, who invoiced Lord Derby for 'A circular Commode of fine and curious Woods very Finely inlaid with Etruscan Ornaments...' at a cost of #84. The bill also states clearly that it was 'compleated from a Design of Mess.s. Adams', which suggests a close working relationship between the two, perhaps particularly on Adam's most fashionable London commissions. The discovery of the Derby bill allows the tentative attribution to Mayhew and Ince of the group of closely related serpentine and bow-fronted commodes (including this commode) that share many of the characteristics of the Derby House commode (listed by Hugh Roberts, op. cit, p.282 and figs. 12-23)
Among the immediately obvious common features of the two groups are: the decorative use of oval and rectangular painted panels, either on paper or (more rarely) copper, and usually attributable either to the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman (d.1810) or Antonio Zucchi (d.1795); the use of extensive engraving heightened with black, red or white mastic in the marquetry to heighten the pictorial illusion; the conspicuous use of well finished and often richly-gilt ormolu mounts, notably borders and feet; and a tendency to incorporate in the marquetry large scale 'antique' motifs such as urns, tripods or medallions taken from printed sources.
The subjects for the medallions largely derive from 'antique' paintings by Angelica Kauffman illustrating scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses or Loves of the Gods, and then rendered as ornamental insets by Adam's team of decorative artists, such as Antonio Zucchi. The scene of 'Venus embracing the solicitations of Cupid' was rendered as an engraving by Francesco Bartalozzi of 1784 and the 'Diana' medallion from an engraving by Robert Marcaud in the same year (C.G. Boerner, Angelika Kauffman und Ihre Zeit, Dusseldorf, 1979, figs. 128 and 157). The patterns for neo-classical marquetry in the Adam style were popularised by the Italian architect and designer Placido Columbani (d.circa 1801) through his New Book of Ornaments, containing a variety of elegant designs for modern panels, commonly executed in stucco, wood or painting, and used in decorating Principal Rooms, 1775.
The 1st Lord Ashburton was a noted collector of wide-ranging tastes. His collection of pictures at Bath (Ashburton) House at no. 82 Piccadilly (rebuilt for him in 1821 by Henry Harrison) and at The Grange in Hampshire, which he acquired in 1817, was much celebrated at the time. He also appears to have been one of the earliest actual collectors of English eighteenth century furniture.
The most celebrated piece of furniture from Lady Derby's apartment was the bow-fronted commode 'in the Countess of Derby's Dressing Room', which has recently been identified as the work of Mayhew and Ince (H. Roberts, 'The Derby House Commode', Burlington Magazine, May 1985, pp.275-283). Adam's two preparatory drawings for it are dated 1774 and the engraved plate was published in The Works in Architecture in 1779 (Vol. II, pt.1, pl. VIII). The Derby House commode was among the very first bow-fronted examples to be executed. Adam's design for a semi-elliptical commode for the Duke of Bolton, probably never realized, is dated January 1773 (op. cit.,fig. 3), the same date as the partial designs for the pair of commodes in the drawing-room at Osterley (op. cit., fig. 4). In the later 1770's and 1780's Adam's basic format, established with the Osterley and Derby House commodes, was repeated on a large number of versions.
The Derby House commode is the only fully documented Adam commode to survive - it was supplied in 1775 by Mayhew and Ince, who invoiced Lord Derby for 'A circular Commode of fine and curious Woods very Finely inlaid with Etruscan Ornaments...' at a cost of #84. The bill also states clearly that it was 'compleated from a Design of Mess.s. Adams', which suggests a close working relationship between the two, perhaps particularly on Adam's most fashionable London commissions. The discovery of the Derby bill allows the tentative attribution to Mayhew and Ince of the group of closely related serpentine and bow-fronted commodes (including this commode) that share many of the characteristics of the Derby House commode (listed by Hugh Roberts, op. cit, p.282 and figs. 12-23)
Among the immediately obvious common features of the two groups are: the decorative use of oval and rectangular painted panels, either on paper or (more rarely) copper, and usually attributable either to the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman (d.1810) or Antonio Zucchi (d.1795); the use of extensive engraving heightened with black, red or white mastic in the marquetry to heighten the pictorial illusion; the conspicuous use of well finished and often richly-gilt ormolu mounts, notably borders and feet; and a tendency to incorporate in the marquetry large scale 'antique' motifs such as urns, tripods or medallions taken from printed sources.
The subjects for the medallions largely derive from 'antique' paintings by Angelica Kauffman illustrating scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses or Loves of the Gods, and then rendered as ornamental insets by Adam's team of decorative artists, such as Antonio Zucchi. The scene of 'Venus embracing the solicitations of Cupid' was rendered as an engraving by Francesco Bartalozzi of 1784 and the 'Diana' medallion from an engraving by Robert Marcaud in the same year (C.G. Boerner, Angelika Kauffman und Ihre Zeit, Dusseldorf, 1979, figs. 128 and 157). The patterns for neo-classical marquetry in the Adam style were popularised by the Italian architect and designer Placido Columbani (d.circa 1801) through his New Book of Ornaments, containing a variety of elegant designs for modern panels, commonly executed in stucco, wood or painting, and used in decorating Principal Rooms, 1775.
The 1st Lord Ashburton was a noted collector of wide-ranging tastes. His collection of pictures at Bath (Ashburton) House at no. 82 Piccadilly (rebuilt for him in 1821 by Henry Harrison) and at The Grange in Hampshire, which he acquired in 1817, was much celebrated at the time. He also appears to have been one of the earliest actual collectors of English eighteenth century furniture.