AN ANGLO-DUTCH GILT AND POLYCHROME-PAINTED LEATHER FIVE-PANEL SCREEN,

While eighteenth century production of Chinoiserie decorated gilt leather panels is mostly associated with workshops in the North and South Netherlands, a recent article in the Furniture History Journal has pointed out that English craftsmen were also producing high quality leather panels during this time (E. Koldeweij, 'Gilt Leather Hangings in Chinoiserie and Other Styles: An English Speciality', Furniture History Journal, 2000, vol. XXXVI, pp. 61-101). Published correspondence between Dutch patrons and English craftsman, foremost the London gilt leather maker John Rowland (d. 1744) and a number of his apprentices who later established independant workshops to continue the craft in London, demonstrate the degree of cross-channel commission and trade in such decorative panels.