Lot Essay
These eilliptical commodes, of tripartite form embellished with figureative medallions, typify the elegant George III 'antique' style established by the architect Robert Adam in the 1770s. Its form, popularised by the 'Etruscan' commode, designed for the Dressing-Room pier of the Countess of Derby's house in Grosvenor Square and illustrated in his Works in Architecture, 1773. The Derby commode, which has been identified as the work of John Mayhew and William Ince (see H. Roberts, 'The Derby House Commode', Burlington Magazine, May 1985, pp. 275-283), also featured the festive pilaster-capitals of bacchic ram-heads bearing veil-drapery, as well as the sacred-urns accompanied by ribbon-tied medallions hung from husk festoons and framed within Grecian palmette-enriched borders. The ornament, associated with 'The Triumph of Love' and 'The Sacrifice on the Altar of Love', and appropriate to the decoration of bedroom apartments, related to the 'Etruscan' wallpaper , such as Adam designed for execution by his decorative artist Pietro Mario Borgnis (d. 1801) at Osterley Park, Middlesex in the 1770s. One of Borgnis' painted medallions depicted The Graces, the attendants of Venus, celebrating the Goddess' triumph; and this medallion, like the Three Graces commode, derives from a painting of The Graces inspired by the lines of Virgil and executed by Angelica Kauffman. The ribbon-tied bouquets enriching the spandrels of the centre panel continue the theme of love and depict the rose, a badge of Venus, united with the convolvulus, emblematic of binding.
THE PROVENANCE:
This pair of commodes was inherited by the present owner through the Speirs family, and it is the portrait medallions on the Three Graces commode which appear to be fundamental in establishing their patrons. Alexander Speirs (d. 1782), the 'mercantile god of Glasgow', was perhaps the most successful of the Glasgow tobacco lords, and provides a dramatic illustration of merchant land-buying and gentrification in the second half of the 18th century. Between 1760-1780 his purchases of estates in Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire amounted to #108,956. Moreover, his accounts for the years 1780-81 reveal expansive payments for both houses and furniture - with three instalments of #3,561-5-5 for his purchase of the Buchanan mansion House in Virginia Street, Glasgow, between June 1780-1 to name but one. However, it is highly unlikely that these commodes predate the 1774 Derby House commode, and as Alexander Spiers would be 61 it would seem unlikely that he should have had antiquarian portraits of himself and his wife (née Buchanan) painted upon a 'fashionable' piece. It is however conceivable that, as happened at Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire, Speirs acquired a house complete with its furnishings, which would, for instance, explain the enormous payments for the Virginia Street Mansion House.
His son, Archibald Speirs, who succeeded to the estates in 1782, was similarly in a position to commission such grand neo-classical furniture. It seems probable that he, like his brother, would have been sent upon an extensive 'Grand Tour', and as M.P. for Renfrewshire and husband of Margaret Dundas, he was extremely well placed to patronise the leading craftsmen of George III's reign. However, both he and his wife, born circa 1755 and circa 1765 respectively, would have been too young to be the sitters.
The most plausible explanation is that these commodes entered into the Speirs family through the marriage of Margaret Dundas to Archibald Speirs (d. 1832) in 1794. She was the daughter of Thomas Dundas (d. 1820), son and heir of Sir Lawrence Dundas (d. 1781), and Lady Charlotte Wentworth, who were married in 1764. Born in 1741 and 1746 respectively, their age would correspond to that of the sitters in the medallions. Moreover, the history of Dundas House, St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh, would appear to corroborate this theory. Commissioned by the celebrated connoisseur Sir Lawrence Dundas from the court architect Sir William Chambers circa 1771, by 1773, Chambers was able to report that 'your house in Scotland advances fast' and the final bills were settled in 1774. It is interesting to note that although Adam (with whom this group of furniture is so closely associated) is not known to have contributed to the interior decoration of this specific Dundas commission (unlike 19, Arlington Street, London, and Moor Park, Hertfordshire), both the principal mason, William Jamieson, and the draughtsman George Richardson had collaborated closely with Adam on previous commissions.
As Thomas and Lady Charlotte Dundas were married as early as 1764, these commodes could not have been commissioned as a celebration of this union. It is, however, certainly possible that they were ordered by Sir Lawrence Dundas, whose account at Drummonds records payments to Mayhew & Ince (1770 June 15 To Cash Pd Mayhew & Co #84-18-0, Ledger for 1770, Folio 175), presumably for the newly completed Edinburgh House which served as his son's principal residence during his political career. Returned as M.P. for Stirling in five parliaments between 1768 and 1794, Thomas Dundas was responsible for overseeing the very extensive Dundas estates in Stirling which were centred around the rather plain house at Kerse that Sir Lawrence had bought before 1759. A compulsive builder of Scottish extraction, it would seem entirely appropriate for Sir Lawrence to commission a residence commensurate with his wealth and social standing for his son and heir's use in the newly developed 'Newtown' of Edinbugh, having himself already 'improved' Kerse House, Stirlingshire, Aske Hall, Yorkshire, Moor Park, Hertfordshire and his London mansion at 19 Arlington Street. His son's close involvement in the commission is perhaps confirmed by the fact that Sir Lawrence's expenditure was 'approved' by his son (cf. the payment of July 1, 1777 from Thomas Dundas' bank account, also at Drummonds, 'James Byres bill on Sir Laurence Dundas #81-4-6'). Thomas Dundas died at Aske in 1820 and in 1825 Dundas House was radically altered and transformed into a Banking Hall. The date that these commodes would, therefore, have left Dundas corresponds with the date of the George IV plinths. These plinths were probably necessitated by the inherent instability of the four legged tripartite design, exacerbated by the width of these commodes, a problem which was shared with the Derby House commode until resolved by the addition of a later central support. The commodes probably remained at Elderslie House until its demolition in 1920.
We are grateful to Michael S. Moss, University Archivist at the University of Glasgow, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
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 Messrs. 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 attribution to Mayhew and Ince of the group of closely related serpentine and bow-fronted commodes.
Although the prototype for this pair, therefore, is the Derby House commode, with its identical swagged rams' headed heading pilaster strips and husk-garlanded portrait medallions, the tripartite form and ornament is developed through the related Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and Welbeck commodes. The Chesterfield Commode (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, illustrated, H. Roberts, op.cit., fig. 14) is adorned with an almost identical oval medallion of the Three Graces which is flanked by pilaster strips headed by the same ram's-headed mounts. However, the swagged drapery here contains a marquetry patera which is transformed into an ormolu patera upon the Speirs commodes. Moreover, the encoignure side cabinets are inlaid with the same sacred-urns upon tripod pedestals. These elements are, in turn, developed in the Shrewsbury Commode (illustrated H. Roberts, op.cit., fig. 13). In particular, its ribbon-tied central medallion is inlaid with a closely related floral guilloche border; the ormolu mounts are of identical design (save the absence of the ormolu paterae and handles); most importantly, however, the encoignure doors, centred by the Chesterfield commode's 'antique' motif, are now enriched with scrolled acanthus arabesques to the base and a husk-garlanded fan motif to the top, suspending anthemion-inlaid oval panels (later developed into the portrait medallions of the Speirs commodes). Finally, the Welbeck commode, with its closely related encoignure door, although simplified in its gilt enrichments, draws the closest parallel, in that both are inlaid with ribbon-tied roses and convulvulus sprays to the angles. Although the Welbeck commode has traditionally been identified as having been supplied by Moore in 1782, he had trained as a specialist 'inlayer' with Mayhew & Ince in London, and had only begun to advertise his services in Dublin in 1782. It is, therefore, highly possible that he retailed Mayhew & Ince's furniture in Dublin. These commodes, which are likely to have been designed by Mr. Ince, display the evolution of the Adam style into the refined arabesques of the early 1780s, combined with floral naturalism promoted by George Brookshaw (d. 1823), cabinet-maker of Great Marlborough Street, who specialised in painted furniture and was patronised by George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV.
The Garrick medallion illustrates the celebrated actor and writer David Garrick (d. 1779) after the 1762 picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Taken from the Judgement of Hercules, it represents Garrick torn between Tragedy, who exhorts him to follow her exalted vocation, while Comedy drags him away, yielding willingly although pleading that he is forced. It was engraved by E. Fisher in 1762. The companion commode's medallion depicts the Three Graces, derived from a painting by Angelica Kauffman and engraved in 1778 under the title 'The Graces Dancing'. Instead of depicting Cupid playing Apollo's lyre, the garland-bearing Graces are here shown dancing to the double-flute associated with Bacchic festivities. The figure of Hope resting upon her anchor is after the painting by Angelica Kauffman of 1765 and engraved by W. W. Ryland (illustrated 'Angelika Kauffman und Ihre Zeit Graphite und Zeichungen von 1760-1810', Exhibition Catalogue, Dusseldorf, 1979, fig. 186), while the medallions of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary are after the painting by G. B. Cipriani engraved by F. Bartolozzi (ill. in Exhibition Catalogue, op. cit., fig. 236). Finally the pair of draped female figures in the left hand medallion's of the Garrick commode are taken from Angelica Kauffman's painting of Cupid Asleep which was also engraved by W.W. Ryland.
THE PROVENANCE:
This pair of commodes was inherited by the present owner through the Speirs family, and it is the portrait medallions on the Three Graces commode which appear to be fundamental in establishing their patrons. Alexander Speirs (d. 1782), the 'mercantile god of Glasgow', was perhaps the most successful of the Glasgow tobacco lords, and provides a dramatic illustration of merchant land-buying and gentrification in the second half of the 18th century. Between 1760-1780 his purchases of estates in Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire amounted to #108,956. Moreover, his accounts for the years 1780-81 reveal expansive payments for both houses and furniture - with three instalments of #3,561-5-5 for his purchase of the Buchanan mansion House in Virginia Street, Glasgow, between June 1780-1 to name but one. However, it is highly unlikely that these commodes predate the 1774 Derby House commode, and as Alexander Spiers would be 61 it would seem unlikely that he should have had antiquarian portraits of himself and his wife (née Buchanan) painted upon a 'fashionable' piece. It is however conceivable that, as happened at Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire, Speirs acquired a house complete with its furnishings, which would, for instance, explain the enormous payments for the Virginia Street Mansion House.
His son, Archibald Speirs, who succeeded to the estates in 1782, was similarly in a position to commission such grand neo-classical furniture. It seems probable that he, like his brother, would have been sent upon an extensive 'Grand Tour', and as M.P. for Renfrewshire and husband of Margaret Dundas, he was extremely well placed to patronise the leading craftsmen of George III's reign. However, both he and his wife, born circa 1755 and circa 1765 respectively, would have been too young to be the sitters.
The most plausible explanation is that these commodes entered into the Speirs family through the marriage of Margaret Dundas to Archibald Speirs (d. 1832) in 1794. She was the daughter of Thomas Dundas (d. 1820), son and heir of Sir Lawrence Dundas (d. 1781), and Lady Charlotte Wentworth, who were married in 1764. Born in 1741 and 1746 respectively, their age would correspond to that of the sitters in the medallions. Moreover, the history of Dundas House, St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh, would appear to corroborate this theory. Commissioned by the celebrated connoisseur Sir Lawrence Dundas from the court architect Sir William Chambers circa 1771, by 1773, Chambers was able to report that 'your house in Scotland advances fast' and the final bills were settled in 1774. It is interesting to note that although Adam (with whom this group of furniture is so closely associated) is not known to have contributed to the interior decoration of this specific Dundas commission (unlike 19, Arlington Street, London, and Moor Park, Hertfordshire), both the principal mason, William Jamieson, and the draughtsman George Richardson had collaborated closely with Adam on previous commissions.
As Thomas and Lady Charlotte Dundas were married as early as 1764, these commodes could not have been commissioned as a celebration of this union. It is, however, certainly possible that they were ordered by Sir Lawrence Dundas, whose account at Drummonds records payments to Mayhew & Ince (1770 June 15 To Cash Pd Mayhew & Co #84-18-0, Ledger for 1770, Folio 175), presumably for the newly completed Edinburgh House which served as his son's principal residence during his political career. Returned as M.P. for Stirling in five parliaments between 1768 and 1794, Thomas Dundas was responsible for overseeing the very extensive Dundas estates in Stirling which were centred around the rather plain house at Kerse that Sir Lawrence had bought before 1759. A compulsive builder of Scottish extraction, it would seem entirely appropriate for Sir Lawrence to commission a residence commensurate with his wealth and social standing for his son and heir's use in the newly developed 'Newtown' of Edinbugh, having himself already 'improved' Kerse House, Stirlingshire, Aske Hall, Yorkshire, Moor Park, Hertfordshire and his London mansion at 19 Arlington Street. His son's close involvement in the commission is perhaps confirmed by the fact that Sir Lawrence's expenditure was 'approved' by his son (cf. the payment of July 1, 1777 from Thomas Dundas' bank account, also at Drummonds, 'James Byres bill on Sir Laurence Dundas #81-4-6'). Thomas Dundas died at Aske in 1820 and in 1825 Dundas House was radically altered and transformed into a Banking Hall. The date that these commodes would, therefore, have left Dundas corresponds with the date of the George IV plinths. These plinths were probably necessitated by the inherent instability of the four legged tripartite design, exacerbated by the width of these commodes, a problem which was shared with the Derby House commode until resolved by the addition of a later central support. The commodes probably remained at Elderslie House until its demolition in 1920.
We are grateful to Michael S. Moss, University Archivist at the University of Glasgow, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
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 Messrs. 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 attribution to Mayhew and Ince of the group of closely related serpentine and bow-fronted commodes.
Although the prototype for this pair, therefore, is the Derby House commode, with its identical swagged rams' headed heading pilaster strips and husk-garlanded portrait medallions, the tripartite form and ornament is developed through the related Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and Welbeck commodes. The Chesterfield Commode (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, illustrated, H. Roberts, op.cit., fig. 14) is adorned with an almost identical oval medallion of the Three Graces which is flanked by pilaster strips headed by the same ram's-headed mounts. However, the swagged drapery here contains a marquetry patera which is transformed into an ormolu patera upon the Speirs commodes. Moreover, the encoignure side cabinets are inlaid with the same sacred-urns upon tripod pedestals. These elements are, in turn, developed in the Shrewsbury Commode (illustrated H. Roberts, op.cit., fig. 13). In particular, its ribbon-tied central medallion is inlaid with a closely related floral guilloche border; the ormolu mounts are of identical design (save the absence of the ormolu paterae and handles); most importantly, however, the encoignure doors, centred by the Chesterfield commode's 'antique' motif, are now enriched with scrolled acanthus arabesques to the base and a husk-garlanded fan motif to the top, suspending anthemion-inlaid oval panels (later developed into the portrait medallions of the Speirs commodes). Finally, the Welbeck commode, with its closely related encoignure door, although simplified in its gilt enrichments, draws the closest parallel, in that both are inlaid with ribbon-tied roses and convulvulus sprays to the angles. Although the Welbeck commode has traditionally been identified as having been supplied by Moore in 1782, he had trained as a specialist 'inlayer' with Mayhew & Ince in London, and had only begun to advertise his services in Dublin in 1782. It is, therefore, highly possible that he retailed Mayhew & Ince's furniture in Dublin. These commodes, which are likely to have been designed by Mr. Ince, display the evolution of the Adam style into the refined arabesques of the early 1780s, combined with floral naturalism promoted by George Brookshaw (d. 1823), cabinet-maker of Great Marlborough Street, who specialised in painted furniture and was patronised by George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV.
The Garrick medallion illustrates the celebrated actor and writer David Garrick (d. 1779) after the 1762 picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Taken from the Judgement of Hercules, it represents Garrick torn between Tragedy, who exhorts him to follow her exalted vocation, while Comedy drags him away, yielding willingly although pleading that he is forced. It was engraved by E. Fisher in 1762. The companion commode's medallion depicts the Three Graces, derived from a painting by Angelica Kauffman and engraved in 1778 under the title 'The Graces Dancing'. Instead of depicting Cupid playing Apollo's lyre, the garland-bearing Graces are here shown dancing to the double-flute associated with Bacchic festivities. The figure of Hope resting upon her anchor is after the painting by Angelica Kauffman of 1765 and engraved by W. W. Ryland (illustrated 'Angelika Kauffman und Ihre Zeit Graphite und Zeichungen von 1760-1810', Exhibition Catalogue, Dusseldorf, 1979, fig. 186), while the medallions of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary are after the painting by G. B. Cipriani engraved by F. Bartolozzi (ill. in Exhibition Catalogue, op. cit., fig. 236). Finally the pair of draped female figures in the left hand medallion's of the Garrick commode are taken from Angelica Kauffman's painting of Cupid Asleep which was also engraved by W.W. Ryland.