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Lot Essay
The black marble-topped commode of fine black-figured rosewood, displays angle pilasters with Grecian palms issuing from voluted and acanthus-wrapped console trusses. While reflecting the French-fashioned 'Drawing room Commodes' illustrated in George Smith's Collection of Designs for Household Furniture, 1808, pls.117 and 118, the florid foliage of its consoles typify the robust George IV 'Louis Quatorze' fashion illustrated in his 1826 Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide. This had already been adopted by cabinet-makers such as Gillows of London and Lancaster.
The boldly-carved trusses on this cabinet correspond exactly to those on a 'buhl' cabinet, also attributable to Gillows, that was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 1986, lot 164. The architect Lewis Wyatt (d.1852) was employed in the Prince Regent's Carlton House mansion and his Marine Pavilion, Brighton. He played a role in the promotion of the early l9th century revival of the Louis XIV and Louis XV styles, and was in Paris in 1814 studying architecture. In view of the close ties between the Wyatt and Gillow families, it may have been his influence that encouraged Gillows in the manufacture of the robust Louis Quatorze furnishings they introduced at Tatton Park, Cheshire around 1817. Apart from a richly-carved suite of seat furniture, the latter included a boulle-inlaid bookcase and a library table, with legs carved in a similar manner to the pilasters of the present cabinet.
The boldly-carved trusses on this cabinet correspond exactly to those on a 'buhl' cabinet, also attributable to Gillows, that was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 1986, lot 164. The architect Lewis Wyatt (d.1852) was employed in the Prince Regent's Carlton House mansion and his Marine Pavilion, Brighton. He played a role in the promotion of the early l9th century revival of the Louis XIV and Louis XV styles, and was in Paris in 1814 studying architecture. In view of the close ties between the Wyatt and Gillow families, it may have been his influence that encouraged Gillows in the manufacture of the robust Louis Quatorze furnishings they introduced at Tatton Park, Cheshire around 1817. Apart from a richly-carved suite of seat furniture, the latter included a boulle-inlaid bookcase and a library table, with legs carved in a similar manner to the pilasters of the present cabinet.