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Lot Essay
Chippendale's only documented work for the Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle, Perthshire, is a 'Pair of large Candlestands neatly carv'd & painted white' and 'a Firescreen of fine french Tapestry' supplied in 1758. A large quantity of furniture was supplied to Blair by the London cabinet-maker William Masters, documented in at least twenty bills dated as early as 1740, and including four mahogany dressing chests each with a fitted drawer and slide, supplied in 1756. The present lot suggests that Chippendale may have supplied further items for Blair castle, either directly or indirectly, after 1758.
Features of this handsome press that suggest Thomas Chippendale as the likely maker include the laminated blocking behind the bracket feet, the thin red wash and the nailing to the underside of the base. The 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 sales catalogue of the contents of Dumfries House, Christie's, 12-13 July 2007, among them lots 106, 236, 251 and 252), while the nailing, which was used to bind a protective cover in preparation for transportion featured on a chest (lot 153) and a clothes-press (lot 236).
Furthermore, the press illustrates a restrained characteristic of Chippendale's work elsewhere, including the extensive commission for
Ninian Home at Paxton House, Berwickshire, between 1774-91 and for Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt, at Mersham-Le-Hatch, Kent between 1767-79. Gilbert praised this 'neat plainness' that 'underlines a basic quality which informs many more richly styled solid mahogany pieces'
(Christopher Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1972, vol.I, p.272.
Chippendale's only documented work for the Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle, Perthshire, is a 'Pair of large Candlestands neatly carv'd & painted white' and 'a Firescreen of fine french Tapestry' supplied in 1758. A large quantity of furniture was supplied to Blair by the London cabinet-maker William Masters, documented in at least twenty bills dated as early as 1740, and including four mahogany dressing chests each with a fitted drawer and slide, supplied in 1756. The present lot suggests that Chippendale may have supplied further items for Blair castle, either directly or indirectly, after 1758.
Features of this handsome press that suggest Thomas Chippendale as the likely maker include the laminated blocking behind the bracket feet, the thin red wash and the nailing to the underside of the base. The 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 sales catalogue of the contents of Dumfries House, Christie's, 12-13 July 2007, among them lots 106, 236, 251 and 252), while the nailing, which was used to bind a protective cover in preparation for transportion featured on a chest (lot 153) and a clothes-press (lot 236).
Furthermore, the press illustrates a restrained characteristic of Chippendale's work elsewhere, including the extensive commission for
Ninian Home at Paxton House, Berwickshire, between 1774-91 and for Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt, at Mersham-Le-Hatch, Kent between 1767-79. Gilbert praised this 'neat plainness' that 'underlines a basic quality which informs many more richly styled solid mahogany pieces'
(Christopher Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1972, vol.I, p.272.
Chippendale's only documented work for the Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle, Perthshire, is a 'Pair of large Candlestands neatly carv'd & painted white' and 'a Firescreen of fine french Tapestry' supplied in 1758. A large quantity of furniture was supplied to Blair by the London cabinet-maker William Masters, documented in at least twenty bills dated as early as 1740, and including four mahogany dressing chests each with a fitted drawer and slide, supplied in 1756. The present lot suggests that Chippendale may have supplied further items for Blair castle, either directly or indirectly, after 1758.