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Lot Essay
The bookcases are designed in the Victorian Louis XV revival style, promoted in the 1830s by Edward Holmes Baldock of Hanway Street, and by the family business established by George Blake in Tottenham Court Road and Mount Street, London. Interestingly the ormolu mounts of the lot offered here bear the initials `JB', and while very few signed pieces executed by Blake are recorded, a commode with mounts stamped 'BLAKE' and numbered was sold Christie's, London, 27 May 2010, lot 76, suggesting a tentative connection through the stamped mounts.
However other objects of apparently 19th century French origin in `tous les Louis' styles also bear the same initials, the high quality of the casting and chasing suggesting a skilled craftsman. A pair of ormolu Louis XVI-style, four-branch wall appliques sold Christie’s, London, 1 May 2003, lot 202, and a pair of Régence-style ormolu chenets sold Sotheby’s, New York, 8 May 2009, lot 18.
The revival of antique French styles of furniture was further popularised after 1850 by other London businesses such as Edwards & Roberts, Charles Mellier & Co. and Wright & Mansfield who were celebrated for their fine reproductions of antique French furniture.
However other objects of apparently 19th century French origin in `tous les Louis' styles also bear the same initials, the high quality of the casting and chasing suggesting a skilled craftsman. A pair of ormolu Louis XVI-style, four-branch wall appliques sold Christie’s, London, 1 May 2003, lot 202, and a pair of Régence-style ormolu chenets sold Sotheby’s, New York, 8 May 2009, lot 18.
The revival of antique French styles of furniture was further popularised after 1850 by other London businesses such as Edwards & Roberts, Charles Mellier & Co. and Wright & Mansfield who were celebrated for their fine reproductions of antique French furniture.