Lot Essay
Features of this handsome press that suggest Thomas Chippendale as the likely maker include the concave quarter-fillets, the thin red wash and the metalwork. The use of concave fillets as a drawer strengthener is found on case furniture supplied by cabinet-makers at the top of the 18th century London cabinet trade, such as a pair of lacquer commodes from St. Giles House, Dorset attributed to John Cobb (sold by the Earl of Shaftesbury, Christie's, London, 11 November 1999, lot 100), and a serpentine chest attributed to Chippendale sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 25 November 2004, lot 79. The latter also featured 'S-pattern' keyholes, which were favoured by Chippendale and were a speciality of the Gascoigne family of St.James's (see C.Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, fig. 267). The thin red wash appeared on a number of pieces of restrained mahogany furniture at Dumfries House, Ayrshire, which were attributed to 'The Dumfries House Cabinet-Maker' - possibly Thomas Chippendale (included in the Dumfries House Christie's sale catalogue, 12-13 July 2007, among them lots 106, 236, 251 and 252).