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拍品專文
This extraordinary commode forms part of an intriguing group of varying size and form but united by their architectural format and prominent term supports, primarily majestic lions suspending bold ring handles. Such terms were designed in the Romano-British fashion associated with the 17th Century court architect Inigo Jones (d.1652) and popularized by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington in the 18th century. The group has been traditionally ascribed to either Benjamin Goodison (d. 1767) or John Boson (d. 1743), two cabinet-makers associated with the celebrated Royal architect / designer William Kent (d. 1745) and Burlington’s protégé. The terms with overlapping disks appears to be a leitmotif in Kent’s designs and commissions (see S. Webber, ed., William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, New Haven and London, 2014, figs. 13.10, 18.7 and 18.23).
Notable examples from the group include:
- A serpentine commode, traditionally thought to have been supplied for Hugh Smithson, later 1st Duke of Northumberland, for his family seat at Stanwick Park, Yorkshire. This was recently sold by order of the 12th Duke of Northumberland and the trustees of the Northumberland Estates, Sotheby's, London, 9 July 2014, lot 7 (£1,516,100).
- a pair of kneehole commodes carved with owls (rather than the usual lions) originally commissioned for Kent's patron Lord Burlington at Chiswick House and now in the collection of the Dukes of Devonshire at Chatsworth. These can be linked to Boson by the existence of an invoice dated 1735 as follows: 'Carving done for ye Honble Lady Burlington as To two mahogany tables with folidge & other ornament modles for ye brass work etc. £20=0=0'. Kent's association with the Chiswick commodes is strengthened by his own sketch of Lady Burlington at Chiswick showing one in the background. Lady Burlington herself writes in a 1735 letter to her husband: 'I hope signor [the Burlingtons' nickname for Kent] has remembered about my tables and glasses' suggesting his direct involvement in their commission the year that they were invoiced (G. Beard, 'Some Thoughts on Benjamin Goodison', Partridge, Summer Exhibition Catalogue, London, 1988, p. 19).
- a kneehole library table supplied to 2nd Duke of Montagu for Montague House in circa 1737-41 and by descent to the Duke of Buccleauch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, is attributed to Goodison on the basis of surviving invoices showing him to have been the Duke's principal cabinet-maker although Geoffrey Beard also unearthed payments in the Montagu accounts to John Boson in 1737 (Partridge, Summer Exhibition Catalogue, 1987). The table is illustrated in T. Murdoch ed., Boughton House, London, 1992 pp. 134, fig. 137). Others closely related form are discussed in Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, vol. I, Christie’s, London, 18 June 2008, lot 155 (£133,250).
- a pair of three-drawer commodes in the Royal Collection (purchased by Queen Mary) and originally commissioned by Sir Thomas Robinson for Rokeby Park, Yorkshire were recently exhibited at the Queen's Gallery (D. Shawe-Taylor, ed., The First Georgians, Art and Monarchy, London, 2014, exhibition catalogue, no. 117). These commodes, and a kneehole table also from Rokeby, feature virtually identical carved lion terms and ring handles (as well as marble tops) (the table illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, pl. 2). Robinson was an amateur architect and part of Lord Burlington's inner circle. He supervised the Great Wardrobe and, as a consequence, Goodison’s work for the Royal family.
-a folding top library chest with three ranges of drawers from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., and later, The Benjamin Sonnenberg collection, Sotheby's New York, 5-6 June 1979, lot 1720 (see A. Coleridge, op. cit., pl. 4). Now in a private collection.
-a folding top library chest with two ranges of drawers from the Percival D. Griffiths and J. S. Sykes collection, later sold Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, vol. I, Christie’s, London, 18 June 2008, lot 150.
It is interesting to compare the cherub-herm commode at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (W.74:1 to 4-1962) presently attributed to William Hallett with carving by John Boson.
Notable examples from the group include:
- A serpentine commode, traditionally thought to have been supplied for Hugh Smithson, later 1st Duke of Northumberland, for his family seat at Stanwick Park, Yorkshire. This was recently sold by order of the 12th Duke of Northumberland and the trustees of the Northumberland Estates, Sotheby's, London, 9 July 2014, lot 7 (£1,516,100).
- a pair of kneehole commodes carved with owls (rather than the usual lions) originally commissioned for Kent's patron Lord Burlington at Chiswick House and now in the collection of the Dukes of Devonshire at Chatsworth. These can be linked to Boson by the existence of an invoice dated 1735 as follows: 'Carving done for ye Honble Lady Burlington as To two mahogany tables with folidge & other ornament modles for ye brass work etc. £20=0=0'. Kent's association with the Chiswick commodes is strengthened by his own sketch of Lady Burlington at Chiswick showing one in the background. Lady Burlington herself writes in a 1735 letter to her husband: 'I hope signor [the Burlingtons' nickname for Kent] has remembered about my tables and glasses' suggesting his direct involvement in their commission the year that they were invoiced (G. Beard, 'Some Thoughts on Benjamin Goodison', Partridge, Summer Exhibition Catalogue, London, 1988, p. 19).
- a kneehole library table supplied to 2nd Duke of Montagu for Montague House in circa 1737-41 and by descent to the Duke of Buccleauch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, is attributed to Goodison on the basis of surviving invoices showing him to have been the Duke's principal cabinet-maker although Geoffrey Beard also unearthed payments in the Montagu accounts to John Boson in 1737 (Partridge, Summer Exhibition Catalogue, 1987). The table is illustrated in T. Murdoch ed., Boughton House, London, 1992 pp. 134, fig. 137). Others closely related form are discussed in Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, vol. I, Christie’s, London, 18 June 2008, lot 155 (£133,250).
- a pair of three-drawer commodes in the Royal Collection (purchased by Queen Mary) and originally commissioned by Sir Thomas Robinson for Rokeby Park, Yorkshire were recently exhibited at the Queen's Gallery (D. Shawe-Taylor, ed., The First Georgians, Art and Monarchy, London, 2014, exhibition catalogue, no. 117). These commodes, and a kneehole table also from Rokeby, feature virtually identical carved lion terms and ring handles (as well as marble tops) (the table illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, pl. 2). Robinson was an amateur architect and part of Lord Burlington's inner circle. He supervised the Great Wardrobe and, as a consequence, Goodison’s work for the Royal family.
-a folding top library chest with three ranges of drawers from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., and later, The Benjamin Sonnenberg collection, Sotheby's New York, 5-6 June 1979, lot 1720 (see A. Coleridge, op. cit., pl. 4). Now in a private collection.
-a folding top library chest with two ranges of drawers from the Percival D. Griffiths and J. S. Sykes collection, later sold Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, vol. I, Christie’s, London, 18 June 2008, lot 150.
It is interesting to compare the cherub-herm commode at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (W.74:1 to 4-1962) presently attributed to William Hallett with carving by John Boson.