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Lot Essay
This elegant chest, likely to have been designed by the upholder William Ince (d. 1804), co-author with John Mayhew of The Universal System of Household Furniture, London, 1762, reflects the influence of the Roman style of interior decoration promoted by the Rome-trained court architects Robert Adam (d. 1792) and Sir William Chambers (d. 1796). Intended to recall sarcophagus-scrolled marriage-chests in antiquity, it is conceived, in the French manner, as a commode-table accompaniment for a golden-framed mirror in a bedroom apartment window-pier, where its silken veneer would likewise harmonize with the rooms silk hangings. The cut-cornered and reed-molded top, whose cupid-bow is reflected by those of the truss-scrolled pilasters, is inlaid with a golden ribbon. The latter, enclosed by Etruscan-black reeds, also frame the drawer-tablets , where, in company with Grecian-fashioned laurel-wreaths, they evoke the Arcadian Golden Age and lyric triumphs. The stand is enriched with trompe l'oeil golden flutes in harmony with the antique-flutes of the columnar legs, whose baluster-swell and hollowed altar capitals would no doubt have harmonized with those of accompanying Louis Seize patterned cabriolet chairs. The Golden Square firm of Mayhew and Ince also introduced golden flutes on commodes designed in the late 1770s for the 4th Duke of Marlborough (H. Roberts, '"Nicely fitted up": Furniture for the 4th Duke of Marlborough', Furniture History, 1994, p. 139, fig. 29).
This commode has foliate wreath handles, a particular characteristic of Mayhew and Ince. They appear on a satinwood bureau at Broadlands, Hampshire that was supplied to Lady Palmerston in 1782 by them (H. Roberts, 'Towards an English Louis Seize, Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire - II', Country Life, 5 February 1981, pp. 346-347, fig. 1). The use of ebonized mouldings is also a noted characteristic of the firm.
A very similar pair of satinwood and mahogany commodes, although with fluted, rather than simulated fluted aprons, was advertized by Partridge in 1994 (see Partridge Fine Arts, Recent Acquisitions, 1994, cat. 17, pp. 46-47).
This commode has foliate wreath handles, a particular characteristic of Mayhew and Ince. They appear on a satinwood bureau at Broadlands, Hampshire that was supplied to Lady Palmerston in 1782 by them (H. Roberts, 'Towards an English Louis Seize, Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire - II', Country Life, 5 February 1981, pp. 346-347, fig. 1). The use of ebonized mouldings is also a noted characteristic of the firm.
A very similar pair of satinwood and mahogany commodes, although with fluted, rather than simulated fluted aprons, was advertized by Partridge in 1994 (see Partridge Fine Arts, Recent Acquisitions, 1994, cat. 17, pp. 46-47).