CIRCA 1760

Details

A GEORGE III COCUS-WOOD CABINET-ON-CHEST
CIRCA 1760
Veneered overall in lozenge patterns, the cornice with central pediment above a glazed door enclosing a later ivory silk-lined interior with four shelves, flanked on each side by a narrow glazed door enclosing a conforming interior with four shelves, the lower section with a drawer above a shallow drawer with ratcheted slope, above three drawers, on bracket feet, inscribed in ink on the reverse 'E1404', the doors probably originally with wire trellis, the cabinet wired for electricity, the handles replaced
87½ in. (222 cm.) high, 45¾ in. (116 cm.) wide, 25 in. (63.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Bought from Stair & Co., New York, late 1960s.

Lot Essay

The bookcase is veneered with an unusual timber called cocus-wood, a hard, dense wood with a chocolate brown heart and a yellow sapwood, often referred to, erroneously, as laburnum. It was imported from the West Indies and was often known as West Indian ebony. It was used as a cabinet wood between 1660-1740 and in the present instance, a section of cocus-wood has been sawn lengthways to provide a decoratively striped veneer (A. Bowett, 'Myths of English Furniture History: Laburnum Wood Furniture', Antique Collecting, June 1998, pp. 22-23).

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