ATTIBUTED TO MAYHEW AND INCE, CIRCA 1775

Details

A GEORGE III BURR-YEW, MAHOGANY AND ENGRAVED MARQUETRY SECRETAIRE-BOOKCASE
ATTIBUTED TO MAYHEW AND INCE, CIRCA 1775
The broken arched cresting surmounted by a later urn finial, inlaid with feathered husks and a patera above a dentilled and faux-fluted frieze, with a pair of astragal-glazed doors with watered silk-lined interior, the base with kingwood crossbanding, secretaire-drawer enclosing a fitted interior above three graduated drawers, on later bracket feet, fitted for electricity
102 ¾ in. (261 cm.) high, 41 in. (104 cm.) wide, 20 in. (51 cm.) deep

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 20 November 1986, lot 175 (with plinth base).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 30 April 1997, lot 126.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 8 April 2004, lot 276.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 14-15 April 2011, lot 523.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker

awalker@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2085

Lot Essay

This secretaire-bookcase can be confidently attributed to the pre-eminent cabinet-makers William Mayhew and John Ince. Most significantly, the use of yewwood with ebonized details as featured within the trompe l'oeil flutes of the frieze as well as the display of shaded and engraved marquetry are signature characteristics of their oeuvre. Paterae wheel medallions are found on a pair of serpentine commodes almost certainly supplied by the firm to the 2nd Viscount Palmerston for Broadlands, Hampshire (H. Roberts, 'Furniture at Broadlands -II,' Country Life, 5 February 1981, p. 347, fig. 3). A similarly fluted frieze features on a satinwood and marquetry breakfront attributed to the firm and sold '50 Years of Collecting: The Decorative Arts of Georgian England,' Christie's, London, 14 May 2003, lot 40, as well as on the Monson commode (lot 90 in this collection). A pair of mahogany bookcases by Mayhew and Ince with carved fluted friezes was purchased by the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother for Clarence House from Olantigh, Kent. One of these appears in a photograph of the refurbished Lancaster Room, M. Hogg, 'Clarence House,' The World of Interiors, October 2003, p. 199.

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