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Lot Essay
The commode forms part of a distinctive group that can be confidently attributed to the pre-eminent cabinet-makers John Mayhew and William Ince of Golden Square, London. The idiosyncratic use of yew as a veneer, ebonized borders, deeply etched details and floral sprays of end-cut marquetry similar to the work of BVRB are features found in documented commissions at Broadlands, Burghley House and Goodnestone Park (Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 593-4; also see H. Roberts, 'Furniture at Broadlands, Part II', Country Life, 5 February 1981, pp. 346-347). The effect of the floral sprays can be difficult to distinguish from the veneer and this commode has been washed to heighten the contrast (while the Linton commode had been later etched to the same purpose). Similar features may be found on a pair of card-tables supplied in 1764 to Sir Brook Bridges, Bt. For Goodnestone Park (exhibited in Treasures from Kent Houses, The Royal Museum Canterbury, 23 September-13 October 1984, no. 56) and a pair of rectangular commodes supplied in the same year to the 6th Earl of Coventry for Coventry House (A. Coleridge, ibid, fig. 119).
This group of commodes is further defined by its rounded front corners and feet, and shallow frieze, and some display elaborate ormolu mounts. Specifically, the group comprises:
1. Olaf Hambro, Esq., Linton Park, Maidstone, Kent, Christie's House Sale, 2-3 October 1961, lot 110 and subsequently sold by the late Mrs. Charles Mills, Hilborough Hall, Norfolk, Christie's House Sale, 21-23 October 1985, lot 73. It was most recently sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 5 July 1990, lot 141 (£99,000). This commode features ormolu mounts; the angle mounts are the same pattern as the ebonized angles on the present example.
2. Martin Summers Esq., Sotheby's, London, 18 March 1966, lot 151 (illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, pl. 45). Incorrectly identified in Sotheby's catalogue and the Coleridge book as the Linton commode, it is all but identical but with the addition of foliate foot-mounts which may have originally featured on the Linton commode. The same pattern ormolu angle mounts as on the present example.
3. Formerly in the collection of Lady Russell, and rendered in a color illustration in P. Macquoid, The Age of Satinwood, London, 1908, pl. 11. The illustration shows a plain yew top and sides, possibly incorrectly. The same pattern ormolu angle mounts as on the present example.
4. With Hotspur, London and now in an American private collection (illustrated in Hotspur: Eighty Years of Antiques Dealing, London, 2004, catalogue 18, pp. 224-25 and cover jacket illustration). The same pattern giltwood angle mounts as on the present example.
5. The collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, 1924, vol. II, p. 136, fig. 15); formerly in Sir George Donaldson's collection and later sold from the collection of Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Park-Bernet Galleries, New York, 15 March 1959, lot 115.
6. Sir Michael Sobell collection (offered, Christie's, London, 23 June 1994, lot 77 but withdrawn from the sale). Formerly in the collections of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Bt., Aston Clinton and Lord Leverhulme, The Hill, Hampstead - later sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 9 February 1926, lot 338 (illustrated in A. Coleridge, op. cit., pl. 43-44.)
7. An English private collection, Christie's, London, 11 November 1971, lot 91. This is a smaller version than the rest without the floral marquetry and with unembellished angles.
THE PROVENANCE
The commode was sold from the estate of Margherita, Lady Howard de Walden, C.B.E. Lord and Lady Howard de Walden leased Chirk Castle, Welsh ancestral home of the Myddelton family, from 1911 until 1946 at the time of Lord Howard de Walden's death. The couple was intensely cultural - Margherita had trained as an opera singer in Paris, while he wrote librettos and was a great patron of contemporary artists. Chirk became a center of artistic gatherings most aptly depicted in John Lavery's famous family portrait in the saloon. Guests and friends included artists, writers, poets, musicians and royalty. While it is not known if the de Waldens acquired anything from the Myddelton family at Chirk, the latter were known patrons of Mayhew and Ince. The history of the Howard de Walden family lineage also links them to another Mayhew client, Sir John Griffin Griffin Bt. (later 4th Lord Howard de Walden and 1st Lord Braybrooke) of Audley End, Essex and Burlington St, London, where the firm's bills coincide with the Robert Adam's redecoration (1762 onwards).
The family is presently one of London's largest property holders in Britain.
This group of commodes is further defined by its rounded front corners and feet, and shallow frieze, and some display elaborate ormolu mounts. Specifically, the group comprises:
1. Olaf Hambro, Esq., Linton Park, Maidstone, Kent, Christie's House Sale, 2-3 October 1961, lot 110 and subsequently sold by the late Mrs. Charles Mills, Hilborough Hall, Norfolk, Christie's House Sale, 21-23 October 1985, lot 73. It was most recently sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 5 July 1990, lot 141 (£99,000). This commode features ormolu mounts; the angle mounts are the same pattern as the ebonized angles on the present example.
2. Martin Summers Esq., Sotheby's, London, 18 March 1966, lot 151 (illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, pl. 45). Incorrectly identified in Sotheby's catalogue and the Coleridge book as the Linton commode, it is all but identical but with the addition of foliate foot-mounts which may have originally featured on the Linton commode. The same pattern ormolu angle mounts as on the present example.
3. Formerly in the collection of Lady Russell, and rendered in a color illustration in P. Macquoid, The Age of Satinwood, London, 1908, pl. 11. The illustration shows a plain yew top and sides, possibly incorrectly. The same pattern ormolu angle mounts as on the present example.
4. With Hotspur, London and now in an American private collection (illustrated in Hotspur: Eighty Years of Antiques Dealing, London, 2004, catalogue 18, pp. 224-25 and cover jacket illustration). The same pattern giltwood angle mounts as on the present example.
5. The collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, 1924, vol. II, p. 136, fig. 15); formerly in Sir George Donaldson's collection and later sold from the collection of Mrs. Elmer T. Cunningham, Monterey, California; Park-Bernet Galleries, New York, 15 March 1959, lot 115.
6. Sir Michael Sobell collection (offered, Christie's, London, 23 June 1994, lot 77 but withdrawn from the sale). Formerly in the collections of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Bt., Aston Clinton and Lord Leverhulme, The Hill, Hampstead - later sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 9 February 1926, lot 338 (illustrated in A. Coleridge, op. cit., pl. 43-44.)
7. An English private collection, Christie's, London, 11 November 1971, lot 91. This is a smaller version than the rest without the floral marquetry and with unembellished angles.
THE PROVENANCE
The commode was sold from the estate of Margherita, Lady Howard de Walden, C.B.E. Lord and Lady Howard de Walden leased Chirk Castle, Welsh ancestral home of the Myddelton family, from 1911 until 1946 at the time of Lord Howard de Walden's death. The couple was intensely cultural - Margherita had trained as an opera singer in Paris, while he wrote librettos and was a great patron of contemporary artists. Chirk became a center of artistic gatherings most aptly depicted in John Lavery's famous family portrait in the saloon. Guests and friends included artists, writers, poets, musicians and royalty. While it is not known if the de Waldens acquired anything from the Myddelton family at Chirk, the latter were known patrons of Mayhew and Ince. The history of the Howard de Walden family lineage also links them to another Mayhew client, Sir John Griffin Griffin Bt. (later 4th Lord Howard de Walden and 1st Lord Braybrooke) of Audley End, Essex and Burlington St, London, where the firm's bills coincide with the Robert Adam's redecoration (1762 onwards).
The family is presently one of London's largest property holders in Britain.