THE FACADE PANELS DUTCH, CIRCA 1795 AND INCORPORATED INTO THE PRESENT CABINET IN THE 19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF EDWARD HOLMES BALDOCK

The English marchand-mercier Edward Holmes Baldock (d. 1845), 'Purveyor of China, Earthenware and Glass to William IV' (1832-7) and 'Purveyor of China to Queen Victoria' (1838-45), was both a retailer of 'antique' French furniture as well as a manufacturer of furniture and objets de luxe in the French taste and furthermore was known to have 'remodelled and altered existing furniture' incorporating earlier elements into 'Antiquarian' pieces of scale and quality as has been done with the magnificent marquetry panel to the front of this cabinet. Established in Hanway Street, London, he was responsible for the formation of many of the greatest early 19th century collections of French furniture in England, including those of George IV, the Dukes of Buccleuch and Northumberland, William Beckford and George Byng, MP (see G. Beard and C. Gilbert ed. The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p34).