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Lot Essay
The paterae medallions hung with bellflower garlands is typical of Mayhew and Ince's work of the 1770s as represented in both carved mahogany and inlay. A commode from Burley-on-the-Hill, the great Italianate mansion, was almost certainly supplied by the firm for the 9th Earl of Winchilsea and 4th Earl of Nottingham (d. 1826). It would appear that the firm was the principal supplier during the 9th Earl's refurbishments at Burley, as there are two significant payments recorded at Hoare's bank in 1774 and 1776. The commode is illustrated in R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. II, p. 52, fig. 56 and was later sold by E.R. Hanbury, Esq., Burley-on-the-Hill, Christie's, London, 6 July 1989, lot 147. Another commode definitively by the firm with characteristic yew and ebonized details features a frieze carved with a similar swagged patera medallion. The commode was sold from the Arthur Leidesdorf collection, Sotheby & Co, London, 27-28 June 1974, lot 108.
THE 'BROUGHAM' PROVENANCE
The label affixed to the underside of the table is inscribed 'The property of Eleanor Brougham, 1916.' This may refer to Eleanor Mabel Valentine Brougham (1883-1966), Lady-in-Waiting to H.M. Queen Victoria Eugenie and daughter of Henry, 3rd Baron Brougham and Vaux. The family seat, Brougham Hall, in Penrith, Cumberland is a short distance from the ruins of Brougham Castle. It has been termed "The Windsor of the north" due to its elevated position above the River Lowther. This Eleanor Brougham died unmarried. A group of her letters to Cecil Beaton are in the collections at St. John's College library.
Alternatively, there is record of an American-born Eleanor Brougham, married to Elias Young, whose daughter Teddie Eleanor Young (occupation: 'lady') married John Alanson Beers in July 1910 in Binghamton, New York (Index of Marriages, Schuyler Co., New York).
THE 'BROUGHAM' PROVENANCE
The label affixed to the underside of the table is inscribed 'The property of Eleanor Brougham, 1916.' This may refer to Eleanor Mabel Valentine Brougham (1883-1966), Lady-in-Waiting to H.M. Queen Victoria Eugenie and daughter of Henry, 3rd Baron Brougham and Vaux. The family seat, Brougham Hall, in Penrith, Cumberland is a short distance from the ruins of Brougham Castle. It has been termed "The Windsor of the north" due to its elevated position above the River Lowther. This Eleanor Brougham died unmarried. A group of her letters to Cecil Beaton are in the collections at St. John's College library.
Alternatively, there is record of an American-born Eleanor Brougham, married to Elias Young, whose daughter Teddie Eleanor Young (occupation: 'lady') married John Alanson Beers in July 1910 in Binghamton, New York (Index of Marriages, Schuyler Co., New York).