EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details

AN 'ANGLO-DUTCH' WALNUT AND BOXWOOD BOMBE COMMODE
EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Of sarcophagus form with moulded rectangular cross-banded and quarter-veneered hinged top above a shell, the waisted base section with two short drawers above a long drawer and two short shaped drawers below, between angles carved with foliage, the sides with carrying-handles, on paw feet with brass castors, the key with elliptical brass label stamped 'BLANKET CHEST', the reverse with fragmentary W. & A. Chapman, Taunton, depository label printed 'L569' and 'A J CAMERON(?)', later metalwork, the top, sides and drawers crossbanded in ash
32¾ in. (83 cm.) high; 42¼ in. (107.5 cm.) wide; 20¾ in. (52.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

A. J. Cameron(?).

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This extraordinary commode, a virtuoso piece of cabinet-making, is among the grandest pieces of walnut of the 1730s. It is an adventurous, audacious and ambitious piece, possibly made for a member of the court of William IV, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1711-1751) who in 1734 married Princess Anne, daughter of King George II of England. A bureau-cabinet of similarly ambitious design and scale with richly-carved foliage on the upper section and boldly-shaped base and now in The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam is illustrated in R. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle, 1993, pp. 86-87, no. 40.
We are grateful to Dr. Reinier Baarsen for his help in preparing this catalogue note.
See also lot 63 in this sale.

More from Important English Furniture

View All