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A PAIR OF ENGLISH ORMOLU AND COBALT-BLUE GROUND SEVRES-STYLE PORCELAIN-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CONSOLES-SECRETAIRES

ATTRIBUTED TO EDWARD HOLMES BALDOCK, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, THE PORCELAIN LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, SPURIOUS INTERLACED L'S MARKS AND DATE CYPHERS

Details

A PAIR OF ENGLISH ORMOLU AND COBALT-BLUE GROUND SEVRES-STYLE PORCELAIN-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CONSOLES-SECRETAIRES
ATTRIBUTED TO EDWARD HOLMES BALDOCK, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, THE PORCELAIN LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, SPURIOUS INTERLACED L'S MARKS AND DATE CYPHERS
Each of trapezoid shape, the white marble top above a drop-down flap inset with two rectangular plaques finely painted with birds of paradise within gilt floral cartouches and acanthus frames, the sides each with a similar plaque decorated with a floral and fruit bouquet, the interior with a gilt-tooled leather-lined writing surface and fitted with two compartments over four drawers, the front angles headed by ram's mask and acanthus clasps, on tapering inswept legs joined by a stretcher mounted with an acanthus finial and terminating in acanthus sabots
36 in. (91.5 cm.) high; 29 in. (74 cm.) wide; 14¼ in. (36 cm.) deep (2)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 15 May 1998, lot 175.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

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Lot Essay

These consoles-secrétaire stylistically combine Louis XIV and Louis XVI overtones in the French/antique fashion, popular in English aristocratic houses in the second quarter of the 19th century. The leading London dealer of ancien régime furniture, Edward Holmes Baldock (d. 1845), is synonymous with this distinctive style of porcelain-mounted furniture. Granted the Royal warrant to King William IV and subsequently Queen Victoria, other celebrated patrons of 'Baldock Sèvres' included the Earl of Lowther and the Duke of Buccleuch. A comparable pair of consoles, with apple-green ground porcelain plaques and subtle differences to the mounts, sold 'A Private Collection, Volume II'; Sotheby's, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 124.

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