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Lot Essay
Vizagapatam, a port to the north of the Eastern Coromandel coast of India, was renowned from the late 17th century for its craftsmens' skilled inlaying and veneering of ivory over wooden carcasses. Inspired by Indian chintz and textile patterns, the intricate designs produced there were aligned to Western forms and often engraved with Western scenes. Furniture and objects manufactured in Vizagapatam were considered luxury goods and retailed in Madras and Calcutta. Their popularity spread further by examples brought back to England by leading officials of the East India Company such as Clive of India and Warren Hastings. A group of furniture brought back by Alexander Wynch, an official of the East India Company who served as Governor of Fort St. George from 1773-5, comprising two small bureau-cabinets, two settees, two corner armchairs and fourteen side chairs, was bought by George III at the sale of Wynch's estate at Christie's in 1781 and is now at Buckingham Palace.
The borders of densely scrolling foliage relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated in A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42. The present clothes-press shows the combination of both ivory inlay and engraved-ivory veneers, representing the transitional phase between the earlier wholly-inlaid technique and the fashion for veneering a piece in ivory in its entirety, common to the later 18th century.
Although the vast majority of Vizagapatam wares are small in scale, often in the form of work-boxes, tea-caddies and miniature bureaux - such as that for which Thomas Chippendale supplied the stand for Mersham-Le-Hatch in 1767 (illustrated in P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing of Mersham-Le-Hatch - Part 1', Apollo, June 1970, p. 277, fig. 13) - larger pieces of furniture were also made, including kneehole dressing-tables and bureau-cabinets. Chief amongst the documented examples are the dressing-table at Powis Castle, Wales, acquired by Clive of India before 1761 - when its bracket feet were replaced by George Bradshaw - and the bureau-cabinet and dressing-table acquired by Richard Benyon, Governor of Fort St. George from 1734 to 1744, now at Englefield House, Berkshire (illustrated in A. Jaffer, op. cit.., p. 172, fig. 73, p. 187, fig. 85 and p. 182, fig. 81).
Clothes-presses such as this are amongst the rarest forms of all. Only three further examples are recorded. One, formerly at Shottesbroke Park, White Waltham, Berkshire, displaying almost identical Palm and Bamboo marquetry panels but with a broken pediment, was sold by Sir John Smith, CBE, Christie's London, 15 November 1990, lot 111. A second press, displaying identical bamboo and palm marquetry but with three long drawers to the base section, was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 8 October 1965, lot 64. Finally, a press with broader marquetry borders was sold in the Goût Steinitz III, Christie's London, 6 December 2007, lot 391 (£180,500); this had been reconstructed in England from Indian elements, its carcase being of oak and pine. By contrast, this truly exceptional example has solid teak and rosewood carcase timbers.
The borders of densely scrolling foliage relate to several pieces dated to the mid-18th century and illustrated in A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, pp. 187-193, nos. 40-42. The present clothes-press shows the combination of both ivory inlay and engraved-ivory veneers, representing the transitional phase between the earlier wholly-inlaid technique and the fashion for veneering a piece in ivory in its entirety, common to the later 18th century.
Although the vast majority of Vizagapatam wares are small in scale, often in the form of work-boxes, tea-caddies and miniature bureaux - such as that for which Thomas Chippendale supplied the stand for Mersham-Le-Hatch in 1767 (illustrated in P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing of Mersham-Le-Hatch - Part 1', Apollo, June 1970, p. 277, fig. 13) - larger pieces of furniture were also made, including kneehole dressing-tables and bureau-cabinets. Chief amongst the documented examples are the dressing-table at Powis Castle, Wales, acquired by Clive of India before 1761 - when its bracket feet were replaced by George Bradshaw - and the bureau-cabinet and dressing-table acquired by Richard Benyon, Governor of Fort St. George from 1734 to 1744, now at Englefield House, Berkshire (illustrated in A. Jaffer, op. cit.., p. 172, fig. 73, p. 187, fig. 85 and p. 182, fig. 81).
Clothes-presses such as this are amongst the rarest forms of all. Only three further examples are recorded. One, formerly at Shottesbroke Park, White Waltham, Berkshire, displaying almost identical Palm and Bamboo marquetry panels but with a broken pediment, was sold by Sir John Smith, CBE, Christie's London, 15 November 1990, lot 111. A second press, displaying identical bamboo and palm marquetry but with three long drawers to the base section, was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 8 October 1965, lot 64. Finally, a press with broader marquetry borders was sold in the Goût Steinitz III, Christie's London, 6 December 2007, lot 391 (£180,500); this had been reconstructed in England from Indian elements, its carcase being of oak and pine. By contrast, this truly exceptional example has solid teak and rosewood carcase timbers.