Lot Essay
This commode displays several of the characrteristics here identified as characteristic of Wright and Elwick's work at Wentworth Woodhouse: its close adherence to a design in Thomas Chippendale's Director of 1754, exotic timber, bold sparing marquetry and distinctive oak-based construction.
This commode is of Roman sarcophagus form, in the picturesque manner popularised by Thomas Chippendale in the 1750s. The pattern chosen for Wentworth Woodhouse is the most elegant of Chippendale's 1753 'French Commode Table' patterns, pl. XLIII, and epitomises the French style which he had introduced for the Earl of Pembroke's Whitehall mansion.
The choice of an exotic timber is characteristic of Wright and Elwick and of Wentworth Woodhouse. Several archive references note the difficulty of obtaining exotic woods. In 1773 he requested permission to send William Constable at Burton Constable on approval: 'a very Curious Ladys Toylet of mix'd Woods, viz Violet, Citron & Sypress, & it is Extra Workmanship...I shall not have it in my power to make such an other, as I could not procure such a fine assortment of woods in the Kingdom' and in 1779 he complained that 'the foreign woods I should have Rec'd from Amersterdam (sic.) Cannot be got over here on any pretence' (C. Gilbert, 'Wright and Elwick of Wakefield, 1748-1824: A Study of Provincial Patronage', Furniture History, 1976, p. 40). It is slightly curious that the compiler of the 1782 inventory should have identified this timber as mahogany since many other pieces of furniture are identified as 'yellow Fustique', 'Anvina' (an unidentifed wood), 'Hollin' (presumably holly), and 'Grey Wood'. In this sale, lot 69 is identified as sabicu, lot 64 as padouk and this lot as sabicu.
Apart from the flowered, foliated and shell-enriched handles and escutcheons, the embellishments of this commode are carved in oak and richly gilded whereas Chippendale wrote that 'The ornamental Parts are intended for Brass-Work, which I should advise should be modelled in Wax and then cast from these Models' (Director, 1754, p. 8, note to pl. LXIII).
The marquetry on this commode is distinctively simple and sparing and undoubtedly from the same workshop as that on the pair of corner-cupboards, lot 64. The inlay is intended to be reflected in the accompanying pier-glass. The rose emerging from whorled acanthus-sprays in each spandrel is a very unusual motif and probably derives from French-style sprigged brocades, such as the celbrated textile designer Anna Maria Garthwaite produced in York before moving to London.
This commode is of Roman sarcophagus form, in the picturesque manner popularised by Thomas Chippendale in the 1750s. The pattern chosen for Wentworth Woodhouse is the most elegant of Chippendale's 1753 'French Commode Table' patterns, pl. XLIII, and epitomises the French style which he had introduced for the Earl of Pembroke's Whitehall mansion.
The choice of an exotic timber is characteristic of Wright and Elwick and of Wentworth Woodhouse. Several archive references note the difficulty of obtaining exotic woods. In 1773 he requested permission to send William Constable at Burton Constable on approval: 'a very Curious Ladys Toylet of mix'd Woods, viz Violet, Citron & Sypress, & it is Extra Workmanship...I shall not have it in my power to make such an other, as I could not procure such a fine assortment of woods in the Kingdom' and in 1779 he complained that 'the foreign woods I should have Rec'd from Amersterdam (sic.) Cannot be got over here on any pretence' (C. Gilbert, 'Wright and Elwick of Wakefield, 1748-1824: A Study of Provincial Patronage', Furniture History, 1976, p. 40). It is slightly curious that the compiler of the 1782 inventory should have identified this timber as mahogany since many other pieces of furniture are identified as 'yellow Fustique', 'Anvina' (an unidentifed wood), 'Hollin' (presumably holly), and 'Grey Wood'. In this sale, lot 69 is identified as sabicu, lot 64 as padouk and this lot as sabicu.
Apart from the flowered, foliated and shell-enriched handles and escutcheons, the embellishments of this commode are carved in oak and richly gilded whereas Chippendale wrote that 'The ornamental Parts are intended for Brass-Work, which I should advise should be modelled in Wax and then cast from these Models' (Director, 1754, p. 8, note to pl. LXIII).
The marquetry on this commode is distinctively simple and sparing and undoubtedly from the same workshop as that on the pair of corner-cupboards, lot 64. The inlay is intended to be reflected in the accompanying pier-glass. The rose emerging from whorled acanthus-sprays in each spandrel is a very unusual motif and probably derives from French-style sprigged brocades, such as the celbrated textile designer Anna Maria Garthwaite produced in York before moving to London.