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Lot Essay
The distinctive handles on this sideboard are reminiscent of Carlton House desks of the period - named thus after one supplied to the Prince of Wales, later George IV, by George Hepplewhite for Carlton House, published in and popularised by Hepplewhite's Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Guide, 1788-1794, and Thomas Sheraton's The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, 1793. Carlton House was remodelled circa 1793-5 by Henry Holland, who not only 'neo-classicised' the interiors but indulged the Prince's taste for all things French. Through his partnership with the Parisian marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, by then resident in London, masterpieces of French furniture entered the Royal Collection from Revolutionary France, and new furnishings in the French taste were commissioned from both native cabinet-makers and French émigré ébénistes and menuisiers working in London.
The Holland/Daguerre partnership was employed by George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834) during the 1790s to remodel his country seat at Althorp, Northamptonshire, when numerous pieces of furniture in the French taste entered the collection and remain still. Interestingly Holland and Daguerre commissioned the cabinetmaker John King to create a bonheur-du-jour in the French taste with the same angular handles as the present sideboard.
Several features of this sideboard can be related to the oeuvre of the London cabinet-maker George Simson: a collector's cabinet-on-stand, with painted decoration to the tops of the legs, satinwood inlaid with amaranth, simulated fluting to the legs, brass banding, angular handles and toupie cap feet attributed to George Simson was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 19 October 2000, lot 282 ($116,000). Simson was established in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1787 and then in Dover Street from 1793, was a subscriber to Sheraton's Drawing Book and Cabinet-Directory and is perhaps best known for his Week's cabinets.
The same handles, which according to F. Lewis Hinckley are 'Dublin angular bail handles', as well as the toupie feet and the distinctive use of satinwood inlaid with amaranth to the simulated fluted uprights, can be found on an inlaid secretaire cabinet, previously at J.J. Wolff (Antiques) Ltd., New York (F. Lewis Hinckley, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and Regency Furniture, London, 1990, p. 145, pl. 111, fig. 276).
The Holland/Daguerre partnership was employed by George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834) during the 1790s to remodel his country seat at Althorp, Northamptonshire, when numerous pieces of furniture in the French taste entered the collection and remain still. Interestingly Holland and Daguerre commissioned the cabinetmaker John King to create a bonheur-du-jour in the French taste with the same angular handles as the present sideboard.
Several features of this sideboard can be related to the oeuvre of the London cabinet-maker George Simson: a collector's cabinet-on-stand, with painted decoration to the tops of the legs, satinwood inlaid with amaranth, simulated fluting to the legs, brass banding, angular handles and toupie cap feet attributed to George Simson was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 19 October 2000, lot 282 ($116,000). Simson was established in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1787 and then in Dover Street from 1793, was a subscriber to Sheraton's Drawing Book and Cabinet-Directory and is perhaps best known for his Week's cabinets.
The same handles, which according to F. Lewis Hinckley are 'Dublin angular bail handles', as well as the toupie feet and the distinctive use of satinwood inlaid with amaranth to the simulated fluted uprights, can be found on an inlaid secretaire cabinet, previously at J.J. Wolff (Antiques) Ltd., New York (F. Lewis Hinckley, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and Regency Furniture, London, 1990, p. 145, pl. 111, fig. 276).