A GEORGE II MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE CABINET

THE CENTRAL LOWER SECTION MID-18TH CENTURY, THE FLANKING DRAWERS AND UPPER SECTION PROBABLY LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE CABINET
THE CENTRAL LOWER SECTION MID-18TH CENTURY, THE FLANKING DRAWERS AND UPPER SECTION PROBABLY LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Of breakfront form, the central section with ribbed pagoda over glazed fretwork case, the base with ribbed waist, secretaire drawer and a pair of doors with ogee panels, flanked by ranges of drawers, on ogee feet
92 in. (233.7 cm.) high, 77 ½ in. (196.9 cm.) wide, 18 in. (45.7 cm.) deep

Provenance

Edwyn, 10th Earl of Chesterfield, Holme Lacy, Herefordshire; Knight, Frank & Rutley, 31 January-3 February 1910, lot 613.
Bequest of Bernard M. Baruch, 1965.

Literature

H. Tipping, 'Holme Lacy, Herefordshire - II', Country Life, 19 June 1909, p. 914 (shown in situ in the Study at Holme Lacy).
C. Latham, In English Homes, 1909, vol. III, p. 246 (shown in situ in the Study at Holme Lacy).
P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1924, vol. I, p. 137, fig. 37.
R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., Suffolk, 1954, vol. I, p. 150, fig. 57.
R. Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1964, p. 82, fig. 34.
M. Schwartz and B. Wade, The New York Times Book of Antiques, New York, 1972, p. 50.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions 1965-1975, New York, 1975, p. 253.
D.Z. Metlach, 'Thomas Chippendale Something for Everyone', The American Woodworker, March 1985, p. 16.

Lot Essay

The bookcase came from Holme Lacy in Herefordshire, the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Scudamore which later came into the possession of the Stanhope family and the Earls of Chesterfield in the 19th century. Following its sale by the 10th Earl in 1910, many of the contents were moved to Beningborough Hall, including a magnificent pair of George I gilt-gesso chandeliers attributed to the royal cabinet-makers Moore and Gumley, one of which now hangs in the Kirtlington Park Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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