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Lot Essay
This bureau-cabinet with triangular pediment and bombe base is one of a distinct group of this form associated on stylistic grounds with the Clerkenwell cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (d.1780) and the circle of John Channon (d. c1783).
The pediment and cartouche-shaped framing to the mirror recall the magnificent scarlet japanned bureau-cabinet by Grendey, of St John's Square, Clerkenwell, that formed part of the famed group of approximately eighty pieces now known as the 'Infantado Suite', supplied around 1740 to the Duke of Infantado for his castle at Lazcano in Spain (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 247, fig. 447), while the bombe-shaped base, chequer banding and bold ormolu mounts were features of the work of John Channon, of St. Martin's Lane, such as the library table in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (see C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and Brass-Inlaid Furniture 1730 - 1760, London, 1993, pp. 94 - 95, pls. 106 - 109). Channon however appears to have worked in mahogany rather than walnut.
Related bureau-cabinets include an example with double-doors in its upper section which was formerly in the Hochschild collection
(sold Sotheby’s, London, 1 December 1978, lot 13, £300,000 including premium; also illustrated in Lanto Synge, Mallet’s Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p. 49, pl. 43), and another with a single door which was formerly at Little Gidding Church, Huntingdonshire (sold anonymously Sotheby's, London, 5 June 2007, lot 111, £240,000 including premium).
The pediment and cartouche-shaped framing to the mirror recall the magnificent scarlet japanned bureau-cabinet by Grendey, of St John's Square, Clerkenwell, that formed part of the famed group of approximately eighty pieces now known as the 'Infantado Suite', supplied around 1740 to the Duke of Infantado for his castle at Lazcano in Spain (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 247, fig. 447), while the bombe-shaped base, chequer banding and bold ormolu mounts were features of the work of John Channon, of St. Martin's Lane, such as the library table in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (see C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and Brass-Inlaid Furniture 1730 - 1760, London, 1993, pp. 94 - 95, pls. 106 - 109). Channon however appears to have worked in mahogany rather than walnut.
Related bureau-cabinets include an example with double-doors in its upper section which was formerly in the Hochschild collection
(sold Sotheby’s, London, 1 December 1978, lot 13, £300,000 including premium; also illustrated in Lanto Synge, Mallet’s Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p. 49, pl. 43), and another with a single door which was formerly at Little Gidding Church, Huntingdonshire (sold anonymously Sotheby's, London, 5 June 2007, lot 111, £240,000 including premium).