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Lot Essay
This spectacular bookcase is a rare example of full-scale architectural furniture in the Egyptian taste of the early 19th century. The fashion for ancient Egyptian motifs was first inspired by archaelogical discoveries made during Napoleon's military campaigns of 1798 and recorded by Baron Vivan Denon in his Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egypte, published in London in 1802. It was further popularized and enthusiastically received in Great Britain following Nelson's victories in Egypt. The vogue for Egypt and the world of antiquity in general played an important role in all aspects of art, architecture and the decorative arts, disseminated through design books published by such influential figures as Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine in France and Thomas Hope and George Smith in England.
The sloping architectural form of the present bookcase most likely takes its inspiration from an Egyptian pylon. The cabinet is embellished with large-scale winged sphinxes and male Egyptian priest caryatid-hermed pedestals wearing a traditional 'nemes' headdresses incorporating the Sistrum of Isis, the most venerated goddess of the Ancient Egyptians. Both the form and the decoration of this bookcase were certainly inspired by various architectural structures already present in Great Britain at the beginning of the 19th century. The bookcase is particularly reminiscent of the Egyptian Hall, a museum located at 170-173 Piccadilly, London, which was built to designs of Peter Fredreick Robinson (d. 1858) in 1811-1812 for William Bullock and which played a considerable role in the subsequent development of the Egyptian style in England (illustrated in J.S. Curl, Egyptomania, The Egyptian Revival Revival: A Recurring Theme in the History of Taste, Manchester and New York, 1994, p. 157, fig. 110). This facade was engraved by Jones & Co. in 1828. A design for a library in the Egyptian style conceived by George Smith and published in his Cabinet Maker's and Upholsterer's Guide, 1828, plate CXLVII, also recalls this particular pylon form, as well as such decorative motifs as the standing Egyptian terms and the Wings of Horus (see F. Collard, Regency Furniture, Woodbridge, 1985, p. 220). On the Continent, the pylon form is best known from a model cabinet of 1809-1819 designed by Charles Percier for Baron Vivant Denon and executed by the celebrated cabinet-makers Jacob-Desmalter and Martin-Guillaume Biennais.
The Dublin cabinet-maker Robert Pasley is recorded at Henry Street in 1810 before entering into partnership with William Scott, cabinet-maker and upholder of 44 Stafford Street (Wilson's Dublin Directory, 1810). The firm of Scott and Pasley appears in the Dublin directories of 1829. By 1832 they had slightly altered their name to Scott and Paisley. The maker's stencilled name on this piece allows one to date it to circa 1829-1830, prior to the name change. The dynamic design of the bookcase as well as its characteristic boldly-carved figures reflect a distinctly Irish approach to a movement sweeping Europe.
The sloping architectural form of the present bookcase most likely takes its inspiration from an Egyptian pylon. The cabinet is embellished with large-scale winged sphinxes and male Egyptian priest caryatid-hermed pedestals wearing a traditional 'nemes' headdresses incorporating the Sistrum of Isis, the most venerated goddess of the Ancient Egyptians. Both the form and the decoration of this bookcase were certainly inspired by various architectural structures already present in Great Britain at the beginning of the 19th century. The bookcase is particularly reminiscent of the Egyptian Hall, a museum located at 170-173 Piccadilly, London, which was built to designs of Peter Fredreick Robinson (d. 1858) in 1811-1812 for William Bullock and which played a considerable role in the subsequent development of the Egyptian style in England (illustrated in J.S. Curl, Egyptomania, The Egyptian Revival Revival: A Recurring Theme in the History of Taste, Manchester and New York, 1994, p. 157, fig. 110). This facade was engraved by Jones & Co. in 1828. A design for a library in the Egyptian style conceived by George Smith and published in his Cabinet Maker's and Upholsterer's Guide, 1828, plate CXLVII, also recalls this particular pylon form, as well as such decorative motifs as the standing Egyptian terms and the Wings of Horus (see F. Collard, Regency Furniture, Woodbridge, 1985, p. 220). On the Continent, the pylon form is best known from a model cabinet of 1809-1819 designed by Charles Percier for Baron Vivant Denon and executed by the celebrated cabinet-makers Jacob-Desmalter and Martin-Guillaume Biennais.
The Dublin cabinet-maker Robert Pasley is recorded at Henry Street in 1810 before entering into partnership with William Scott, cabinet-maker and upholder of 44 Stafford Street (Wilson's Dublin Directory, 1810). The firm of Scott and Pasley appears in the Dublin directories of 1829. By 1832 they had slightly altered their name to Scott and Paisley. The maker's stencilled name on this piece allows one to date it to circa 1829-1830, prior to the name change. The dynamic design of the bookcase as well as its characteristic boldly-carved figures reflect a distinctly Irish approach to a movement sweeping Europe.