Lot Essay
The commode/chest of drawers, veneered in richly figured mahogany, was commissioned by Sir William Baker, alderman of London, for his country villa at Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire. The house, designed by the celebrated architect Sir Robert Taylor (d.1788), was ready for occupation in 1762. Mahogany was liberally used throughout the house, which was later described as having been fitted up with 'a great deal of ... carving-handsome in its way, but making the spaces already small, look much smaller' (noted in 1826 by Mrs Jenkins and quoted H. Avray Tipping, Bayfordbury', English Homes, Period VI, London, 1926, vol. I, p. 376).
Whilst Thomas Chippendale is the most likely maker of the commode, its design can be related to William and John Linnell. This commode has non-swivelling wooden castors, being fitted for a window-bay, as illustrated in a contemporary room-elevation executed by Messrs. W. & J. Linnell of Berkeley Square (see H. Hayard, 'The Drawings of John Linnell in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Furniture History, 1969, p. 107 and fig. 162). Being fitted with a dressing-slide, it is likely to have been made for a single-windowed bedroom apartment, while its companion commode would have been supplied for the adjoining room (the latter, illustrated in situ in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II p. 49, fig. 48.) It also bears comparison to the breakfront bookcase at Kedleston Hall, designed by Robert Adam and supplied to Lord Scarsdale in 1760, with its blind fretwork frieze and identical handles, illustrated in H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II p. 8, fig. 12. .
Whereas the other chest is only fitted with drawers, this one has a 'commode' base, whose doors are constructed from a single plank of mahogany, with the right door being cut and inverted from that on the left. Its pilasters are enriched with ribboned fret-work, corresponding to Taylor's architecture and to other furniture in the house, including a library table and arm-chairs (illustrated in Tipping, op. cit., p. 381). Its serpentined form, with triple carved pilasters, relates in particular to a 'French Commode' pattern illustrated in Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd ed., 1762, pl. LXVIII. In addition, the same fine quality mahogany and French 'picturesque' handles feature on a remarkable bookcase that Thomas Chippendale (d.1779) of St Martin's Lane supplied about 1760 for Pembroke House, Whitehall (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II fig. 66).
A commode in a private collection, from the same original source, has the same handles and the most unusual feature of concave quarter-fillets, a form of construction, seen on documented furniture by Thomas Chippendale, such as the Messer Commode, supplied to Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet, and sold from the Collection of the late Samuel Messer, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991, lot 130.
Whilst Thomas Chippendale is the most likely maker of the commode, its design can be related to William and John Linnell. This commode has non-swivelling wooden castors, being fitted for a window-bay, as illustrated in a contemporary room-elevation executed by Messrs. W. & J. Linnell of Berkeley Square (see H. Hayard, 'The Drawings of John Linnell in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Furniture History, 1969, p. 107 and fig. 162). Being fitted with a dressing-slide, it is likely to have been made for a single-windowed bedroom apartment, while its companion commode would have been supplied for the adjoining room (the latter, illustrated in situ in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II p. 49, fig. 48.) It also bears comparison to the breakfront bookcase at Kedleston Hall, designed by Robert Adam and supplied to Lord Scarsdale in 1760, with its blind fretwork frieze and identical handles, illustrated in H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II p. 8, fig. 12. .
Whereas the other chest is only fitted with drawers, this one has a 'commode' base, whose doors are constructed from a single plank of mahogany, with the right door being cut and inverted from that on the left. Its pilasters are enriched with ribboned fret-work, corresponding to Taylor's architecture and to other furniture in the house, including a library table and arm-chairs (illustrated in Tipping, op. cit., p. 381). Its serpentined form, with triple carved pilasters, relates in particular to a 'French Commode' pattern illustrated in Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd ed., 1762, pl. LXVIII. In addition, the same fine quality mahogany and French 'picturesque' handles feature on a remarkable bookcase that Thomas Chippendale (d.1779) of St Martin's Lane supplied about 1760 for Pembroke House, Whitehall (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II fig. 66).
A commode in a private collection, from the same original source, has the same handles and the most unusual feature of concave quarter-fillets, a form of construction, seen on documented furniture by Thomas Chippendale, such as the Messer Commode, supplied to Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet, and sold from the Collection of the late Samuel Messer, in these Rooms, 5 December 1991, lot 130.