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Lot Essay
These exquisite cabinets demonstrate the skill with which the preeminent mid-19th century English cabinetmakers worked in the style of the French ancien régime. Combining high-style French elements (Sèvres style plaques and the coat-of-arms of the Le Tellier family) and top English construction (fine dovetailing and quarter-molding to the interior of the frieze drawers), the cabinets reflect a taste championed by only a small number of reputable firms.
Edward Holmes Baldock and Blake of London, both active in the 1840s and 1850s, repeatedly exhibited pieces in the French style, such as a porcelain-mounted and ebony veneered secrétaire by Blake and a pair of porcelain and rosewood meubles d'appui by Baldock offered at Sotheby's, London, 28 October 2009, lot 77 and Sotheby's, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 123, respectively. The work of both firms embody the very fashionable taste of the period for haute furnishings of nearly a century earlier.
Edward Holmes Baldock and Blake of London, both active in the 1840s and 1850s, repeatedly exhibited pieces in the French style, such as a porcelain-mounted and ebony veneered secrétaire by Blake and a pair of porcelain and rosewood meubles d'appui by Baldock offered at Sotheby's, London, 28 October 2009, lot 77 and Sotheby's, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 123, respectively. The work of both firms embody the very fashionable taste of the period for haute furnishings of nearly a century earlier.