THE CABINET SECTION EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE BASE LATER

Details

A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT AND MARQUETRY CABINET-ON-CHEST
THE CABINET SECTION EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE BASE LATER
Inlaid overall with scrolling foliage, the rectangular moulded cornice above a cushion drawer and a pair of doors enclosing a row of removable pigeon-holes with secret drawers behind above eight drawers around a door, the later base with two short and two long drawers, on later bracket feet, the reverse with William Cowlin & Son, Ltd., Clifton depository label, the lower long drawers reveneered, the short drawers in the base originally fitted in the cabinet section, the three removable pigeon-hole sections and secret drawers later
62¼ in. (158 cm.) high; 40¼ in. (102 cm.) wide; 21 in. (53 cm.) deep

Provenance

The Townley-Balfour family, Townley Hall, Co. Louth, and by descent.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The cabinet, with coronet-ensigned escutcheons, is richly mosaiced with flowered acanthus medallions and tables in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' fashion. The date 1688 features on a similarly inlaid cabinet, fitted with this flowered handle pattern, that is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (A. Bowett, English Furntiure from Charles II to Queen Anne, Woodbridge, 2002, pls. 7:4 and 7:6). The cabinet may have been brought to Ireland in the late 17th century at the time of Lucy Balfour's marriage to Blayney Townley, and was amongst the early furniture retained for the new mansion Townley Hall, which was built by Blayney Townley-Balfour (d. 1857).

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