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Lot Essay
This pier-commode-table form, with corner cabinets and mirrored recess for vase and china-display, evolved from the Parisian pier tables, such as that imported in the late 1780s by the Paris London marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre (d. 1796) and supplied, under the direction of the architect Henry Holland, for Carlton House, the London mansion of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The latter featured in the Prince's Drawing Room illustrated in Thomas Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, 1793 (pl. 31); while another related 'Pier Table' pattern was issued in his Cabinet Dictionary, 1804. The pier-table's ornament, such as Paris' reeds, Apollo's palm-leaves, Venus' pearl-strings and lozenged ribbon-trellis, also feature in Sheraton's publications.
A pair of related white and gold and mirrored pier tables formed part of the Drawing Room furnishings commissioned for Heveningham Hall, Suffolk by Sir Joshua Vanneck following his 1796 elevation in the Irish Peerage as Lord Huntingfield (The seat-furniture illustrated in 'Heveningham Hall', The Antique Collector, August 1968, p.154). The date 1798 is inscribed on an accompanying pier-glass (Victoria & Albert Museum Furniture Archives).
In place of marble the present table-top is painted with foliated scrolls and a central tablet inspired by Ovid's, Metamorphoses, and celebrating the Continent of Europe with Jupiter's abduction of Europa. Flanking tablets depict festive female figures in the Pompeian manner; while the ribboned border incorporates medallions of sporting putti, emblematic of the Seasons.
A pair of related white and gold and mirrored pier tables formed part of the Drawing Room furnishings commissioned for Heveningham Hall, Suffolk by Sir Joshua Vanneck following his 1796 elevation in the Irish Peerage as Lord Huntingfield (The seat-furniture illustrated in 'Heveningham Hall', The Antique Collector, August 1968, p.154). The date 1798 is inscribed on an accompanying pier-glass (Victoria & Albert Museum Furniture Archives).
In place of marble the present table-top is painted with foliated scrolls and a central tablet inspired by Ovid's, Metamorphoses, and celebrating the Continent of Europe with Jupiter's abduction of Europa. Flanking tablets depict festive female figures in the Pompeian manner; while the ribboned border incorporates medallions of sporting putti, emblematic of the Seasons.