ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS PARKER, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Such pieces of 'Boulle' chests held an important place in the stately apartments furnished in the Louis Quatorze antiquarian style promoted since 1800 by the Carlton House mansion of George, Prince of Wales, later George IV (W.H. Pyne, The History of Carlton House, The History of the Royal Residences, London, 1819). These medal-chests derive from the 17th century dressing-chest or Coffre de Toilette such as featured in the early 18th century publication by P.-J. Mariette entitled Nouveau Dessins de Meubles et Ouvrages de bronze et de Marqueterie inventés et gravés par André-Charles Boulle. They proved a speciality of the Princes' Piccadilly neighbour Thomas Parker (fl. 1805 - 1830) of Air Street, who advertised himself from 1811 as 'Cabinet and Buhl Manufacturer to H.R.H. the Prince Regent and Royal Family'. The Royal examples were no doubt executed under the direction of the Prince's adviser Lord Yarmouth, later 3rd Marquess of Hertford. Following their removal to George IV's state apartments at Windsor Castle, which were furnished under the direction of the King's 'Upholsterer in Ordinary' Nicolas Morel, they were listed in George IV's 1827 Pictorial Inventory (P. van Duin, 'Two Pairs of Boulle caskets on stands by Thomas Parker', Furniture History, 1989, pp. 213 - 216). Another pair is in the Marquess of Hertford's collection (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, vol. II, London, 1996, no. 142). A further pair by Parker, dated 1812, is in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford, and others are in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, figs. 718 - 720).