Lot Essay
An almost identical cabinet is in the Fitzwilliam family collections from Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire, and it shares many features with the group of furniture from Wentworth Woodhouse that is now attributed to the Wakefield firm of Richard Wright and Edward Elwick and which is included in the separate catalogue of works of art from that collection, Christie's London, 8 July 1998.
The most straightforward similarity is the large scale use of an exotic eastern timber, in this case padouk, which is common to the majority of the furniture in the Wentworth sale. The second feature is the obviously oriental derivation of the design, particularly of the apron of the stand. This seems to be a common link between several pieces attributed to Wright and Elwick in the Wentworth sale, for example the exaggerated fretwork of the Marchioness of Rockingham's Cabinet, lot 35. On a more detailed level there is clearly an oriental inspiration to the high ogee bracket foot of the dressing-commode, lot 69, and the large flying angle-brackets on the dressing-table, lot 63.
No payments to Wright and Elwick have been traced among the extensive payments to cabinet-makers in the 1st Earl of Warwick's bank accounts and so it seems likely that this was the Countess's personal furniture, and that the inscription was put on when her husband died in order to confirm that it was her property.
The most straightforward similarity is the large scale use of an exotic eastern timber, in this case padouk, which is common to the majority of the furniture in the Wentworth sale. The second feature is the obviously oriental derivation of the design, particularly of the apron of the stand. This seems to be a common link between several pieces attributed to Wright and Elwick in the Wentworth sale, for example the exaggerated fretwork of the Marchioness of Rockingham's Cabinet, lot 35. On a more detailed level there is clearly an oriental inspiration to the high ogee bracket foot of the dressing-commode, lot 69, and the large flying angle-brackets on the dressing-table, lot 63.
No payments to Wright and Elwick have been traced among the extensive payments to cabinet-makers in the 1st Earl of Warwick's bank accounts and so it seems likely that this was the Countess's personal furniture, and that the inscription was put on when her husband died in order to confirm that it was her property.