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Lot Essay
This commode relates closely to a design from the early 1760s by the cabinet-maker William Gomm (circa 1697-1780) that features a serpentine front, richly carved angles and carved feet (L. Boynton, 'William & Richard Gomm', Burlington Magazine, June 1980, fig. 33). From 1763-64, Gomm was one of the principal suppliers of furniture to Edward, 5th Lord Leigh, for Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, where there were at least six 'Exceeding fine Serpentine Commode Dressing Tables’. A pair of commodes and a single commode removed from Stoneleigh and sold by the Right Hon. Lord Leigh at Christie’s, London, 3 May 1962 (lots 53 and 54) are presumably three of these pieces as they share the same serpentine form and distinctive carved scrolling angles.
Most recently a virtually identical commode was sold from the John Shaffer Phipps (1874-1958) Collection, New York, at Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 5 October 2016, lot 132 (£28,000). Other closely-related examples include a pair sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 7-8 October 2015, lot 140 ($40,000 incl. premium); a commode sold Christie’s, London, 23 May 2013, lot 200 (£169,875 incl. premium); and two commodes sold from the Hascoe Family Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2011, lots 230 & 231 (the first altered; $15,000 and $40,625 incl. premium).
The stamp 'W. Dawson' is likely to be that of an unknown mid-18th century cabinet-maker recorded in the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, p. 235: 'Name impressed on high quality mahogany Rococo card table with concertina action' (although the dictionary does not cite where the card table is to be found). It is possible that this cabinet-maker was a journeyman working for William Gomm.
Most recently a virtually identical commode was sold from the John Shaffer Phipps (1874-1958) Collection, New York, at Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 5 October 2016, lot 132 (£28,000). Other closely-related examples include a pair sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 7-8 October 2015, lot 140 ($40,000 incl. premium); a commode sold Christie’s, London, 23 May 2013, lot 200 (£169,875 incl. premium); and two commodes sold from the Hascoe Family Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2011, lots 230 & 231 (the first altered; $15,000 and $40,625 incl. premium).
The stamp 'W. Dawson' is likely to be that of an unknown mid-18th century cabinet-maker recorded in the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, p. 235: 'Name impressed on high quality mahogany Rococo card table with concertina action' (although the dictionary does not cite where the card table is to be found). It is possible that this cabinet-maker was a journeyman working for William Gomm.