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Lot Essay
THE WENTWORTH CABINET-MAKER: WRIGHT AND ELWICK
The design of the "pier commode tables" can be attributed to the London-trained 'Upholders' Richard Wright and Edward Elwick who traded at the 'Glass & Cabinet Ware House' in Wakefield, Yorkshire and were principal suppliers to Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockinham (d. 1782) at Wentworth Woodhouse, only sixteen miles away. The partnership lasted between 1747 and 1771, precisely the years in which the newly completed Wentworth Woodhouse was furnished; the first payment to the firm by Lord Rockingham appears as early as 1748 (C. Gilbert, 'Wright and Elwick of Wakefield', Furniture History, 1976, pp. 34-43).
Much of the furniture attributed to Wright and Elwick at Wentworth Woodhouse shares similar traits, including a close adherence to designs from Thomas Chippendale's Director of 1754 and 1762. Both Wright and Elwick subscribed separately to the 1754 edition. The elliptic form appears in a Chippendale pattern for a bedroom apartment "China Table" (pl. 51). Rich timbers and quatrefoil panels are also characteristics found on examples in the group.
The commodes correspond to an example listed in Wentworth's Blue Papered Bed Chamber, described as a "mahogany commode with 5 drawers and 2 cupboards"; its form derives from a commode-flanked chest of drawers, which Chippendale called a "French Commode Table" (ibid, pl. 48). Commodes of this pattern were likely to have been commissioned for several bedrooms in a house of the scale of Wentworth Woodhouse.
A commode most recently offered in these Rooms, 7 April 2009, lot 254 was included in Christie's Wentworth sale of 1948 conducted at Spencer House.
The two commodes belong to a small group of the same basic design which includes:
1. A commode commissioned for Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire and sold by the Earl Fitzwilliam, Chistie's, London [Spencer House], 15 July 1948, lot 110; most recently offered anonymously; Christie's, New York, 7 April 2009, lot 253.
2. Another sold by the late Anne, Lady Hollenden, Valley Farm, Edgeworth, Gloucestershire; Christie's, London, 23 November 2006, lot 10. This commode shares identical mounts to the above example. As such, the Hollenden commode was likely to have been supplied to Wentworth Woodhouse.
2. A commode sold anonymously, Sotheby's New York, 27 January 1996, lot 318 (reputedly from J. P. Morgan, illustrated in F. Lewis Hinckley, A Directory of Queen Anne, Early Georgian and Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1971, p. 238, pl. 429). The mounts on this commode are of a mid-18th century rococo-chinoiserie pattern; it also features carrying-handles at each side.
A further variation of this model with nearly identical brasses, but on arched bracket feet, was at Nostell Priory, just outside Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1906 and is illustrated in P. Macquoid, The Age of Mahogany, 1906, fig. 135. Another in sabicu was sold at the Wentworth sale, Christie's, London, 8 July 1998, lot 69.
For a full discussion of Wright and Elwick at Wentworth, see the introduction to lot 33 by Edward Lennox-Boyd in the Wentworth sale catalogue, Christie's, London, 8 July 1998.
THE HUTTON PROVENANCE
The commodes were reputedly owned by American socialite Barbara Woolworth Hutton (d. 1979), the only daughter of Franklyn Laws Hutton, co-founder of E. F. Hutton & Company, the investment banking and brokerage firm. She was granddaughter to Frank W. Woolworth, the founder of the successful five-and-dime stores, and niece by marriage to Marjorie Merriweather Post. Dubbed 'the poor little rich girl', Hutton lead a sad but extravagant life, squandering the nearly $50 million she inherited on her 21st birthday. Her assets were liquidated in 1972, much of it sold privately or at auction.
The design of the "pier commode tables" can be attributed to the London-trained 'Upholders' Richard Wright and Edward Elwick who traded at the 'Glass & Cabinet Ware House' in Wakefield, Yorkshire and were principal suppliers to Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockinham (d. 1782) at Wentworth Woodhouse, only sixteen miles away. The partnership lasted between 1747 and 1771, precisely the years in which the newly completed Wentworth Woodhouse was furnished; the first payment to the firm by Lord Rockingham appears as early as 1748 (C. Gilbert, 'Wright and Elwick of Wakefield', Furniture History, 1976, pp. 34-43).
Much of the furniture attributed to Wright and Elwick at Wentworth Woodhouse shares similar traits, including a close adherence to designs from Thomas Chippendale's Director of 1754 and 1762. Both Wright and Elwick subscribed separately to the 1754 edition. The elliptic form appears in a Chippendale pattern for a bedroom apartment "China Table" (pl. 51). Rich timbers and quatrefoil panels are also characteristics found on examples in the group.
The commodes correspond to an example listed in Wentworth's Blue Papered Bed Chamber, described as a "mahogany commode with 5 drawers and 2 cupboards"; its form derives from a commode-flanked chest of drawers, which Chippendale called a "French Commode Table" (ibid, pl. 48). Commodes of this pattern were likely to have been commissioned for several bedrooms in a house of the scale of Wentworth Woodhouse.
A commode most recently offered in these Rooms, 7 April 2009, lot 254 was included in Christie's Wentworth sale of 1948 conducted at Spencer House.
The two commodes belong to a small group of the same basic design which includes:
1. A commode commissioned for Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire and sold by the Earl Fitzwilliam, Chistie's, London [Spencer House], 15 July 1948, lot 110; most recently offered anonymously; Christie's, New York, 7 April 2009, lot 253.
2. Another sold by the late Anne, Lady Hollenden, Valley Farm, Edgeworth, Gloucestershire; Christie's, London, 23 November 2006, lot 10. This commode shares identical mounts to the above example. As such, the Hollenden commode was likely to have been supplied to Wentworth Woodhouse.
2. A commode sold anonymously, Sotheby's New York, 27 January 1996, lot 318 (reputedly from J. P. Morgan, illustrated in F. Lewis Hinckley, A Directory of Queen Anne, Early Georgian and Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1971, p. 238, pl. 429). The mounts on this commode are of a mid-18th century rococo-chinoiserie pattern; it also features carrying-handles at each side.
A further variation of this model with nearly identical brasses, but on arched bracket feet, was at Nostell Priory, just outside Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1906 and is illustrated in P. Macquoid, The Age of Mahogany, 1906, fig. 135. Another in sabicu was sold at the Wentworth sale, Christie's, London, 8 July 1998, lot 69.
For a full discussion of Wright and Elwick at Wentworth, see the introduction to lot 33 by Edward Lennox-Boyd in the Wentworth sale catalogue, Christie's, London, 8 July 1998.
THE HUTTON PROVENANCE
The commodes were reputedly owned by American socialite Barbara Woolworth Hutton (d. 1979), the only daughter of Franklyn Laws Hutton, co-founder of E. F. Hutton & Company, the investment banking and brokerage firm. She was granddaughter to Frank W. Woolworth, the founder of the successful five-and-dime stores, and niece by marriage to Marjorie Merriweather Post. Dubbed 'the poor little rich girl', Hutton lead a sad but extravagant life, squandering the nearly $50 million she inherited on her 21st birthday. Her assets were liquidated in 1972, much of it sold privately or at auction.