A Louis XIV revival Limoges enamel and ormolu-mounted kingwood, ebony and ebonized cabinet on stand circa 1825 incorporating some 17th century elements, the Limoges plaques second half 17th century

the domed rectangular top with quatrefoil and oak leaf gilt-bronze gallery with large gilt-bronze acanthi to the corners and with the front centered by three portrait medallions, the frieze with three drawers with the middle one decorated with a carved bust of Louis XIV, all over nine drawers each mounted with an enamel portrait flanked by gilt-bronze trophy mounts and enclosed by gilt-bronze bands, the sides with molded diamond-shaped ebony and parcel-gilt frames enclosing faux marble panels, raised on ebonized cabriole legs, the apron with drapery swags at the front corners and centered by a gilt-bronze mask, all on a rectangular base with projecting canted corners on gilt-bronze bun feet.

The Panacea Society, Bedford, England

Enamels not examined out of frames except for one but with no visible restored cracks. Age cracks to cabinet, mainly to sides. Rubbing and oxidation to mounts. Base with very minor old worm damage. Surface restorations to ebony and ebonized surfaces along with usual nicks, scratches, dents, and abrasions consistent with use and age. Stand also with typical signs of wear including scratches and nicks. Base also with some small surface patches and restorations. Height with stand 59 1/2 in.; width with stand 35 1/2 in.; depth with stand 19 1/2 in.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Similarly to lot 13, this cabinet on stand exemplifies the interest in historic styles in Europe in the early nineteenth century. In England, unlike on the continent, historicism started in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when designers began incorporating Gothic elements into their creations. Just like the Charles X casket on stand, this cabinet incorporates precious materials produced in the previous centuries. Whereas the casket was inset with Italian Baroque pietra dura plaques, this cabinet was decorated with late Renaissance Limoges enamel roundels and enriched with fine gilt bronze mounts. Whereas the casket was created based on Baroque prototypes, the makers of this cabinet used an actual seventeenth-century piece enhanced with contemporaneous and later elements. This use of Renaissance and Mannerist objects reflected the romantic antiquarian interests of early-nineteenth century tastemakers and echoed the concept of the Renaissance studiolo and the Kunstkammer or the Schatzkammer. Similarly to Parisian marchands-merciers of the eighteenth century, dealers in England of the first half of the 1800s are known to have created the most exuberant pieces of furniture and decorations by reinventing and recycling luxurious and curious objects of the past. 

One of the foremost producers of pieces made to meet the demand, particularly on the part of the English, for furniture and objects in the taste of the ancien régime was Philippe-Claude Maëlrondt (1766-1824). He is best known for his remounting of Sèvres porcelain (see G. de Bellaigue, "Philippe-Claude Maëlrondt, supplier to George IV," Burlington Magazine, June 2004, pp. 386-395). He is also known to have collaborated with the Bellangé family to produce elaborate furniture incorporating porcelain and other rare elements, such as the sécretaire à abattant from The Benchoufi Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, November 9, 2006, lot 137. Among the English furniture makers of the time most renowned for furniture decorated with pietra dura panels and other such older elements was Edward Holmes Baldock (1777-1845). Originally a purveyor of French furniture to George IV and Beckford, among others, he eventually began to produce pieces himself. He is known to have made display cabinets similar to the present lot, such as those decorated with porcelain panels and ormolu mounts, raised on comparable legs and having a similar upper section. These cabinets stamped EHB , were formerly in the collection of the Earl of Shelburn and are illustrated Christopher Gilbert, Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p. 80. The preference for lavish ormolu mounts, as it is the case in the cabinet offered here, was also a hallmark of Baldock’s oeuvre.  

The Enamel Plaques

The plaques mounted on this cabinet are signed P.N. and are most probably the work of Pierre I Nouailher, active in Limoges in the late 1600s. The subject of the twelve Caesars was common during the Renaissance and many versions of them were executed in different media. The source of the imperial portraits found on this cabinet “may be found in the engravings of the Twelve Caesars by Marcantonio Raimondi” or “the Imperatorium Imagines of Hubert Goltz (Goltzius), published in Antwerp in 1557,” see Philippe Verdier, The Walters Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, p. 391. A set of four medallions by Jacques I Laudin in the collection of the Musée du Louvre is painted with basically identical Roman profiles as are six medallions on a pair of candlesticks at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, see Sophie Barette, Les émaux peints de Limoges, Paris, 2000, pp. 401-402 and Verdier, op. cit., p. 389, respectively. Among the great tastemakers and collectors of early nineteenth-century England was William Beckford, who is known to have possessed an extensive collection of fine Renaissance enamels from Limoges, see Derek Ostergard, William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 370. Beckford was so fond of his enameled pieces that he included them in paintings depicting the very best items in his collection, see ibid., pp. 408-409.

The Panacea Society

The Panacea Society was a religious group in Bedford, England founded in 1919 by Mabel Barltrop along with twelve of her “apostles” under the name Community of the Holy Ghost. Their values and beliefs were based on the teachings of Joanna Southcott (1750-1814), also known as the Devonshire prophetess. Southcott, an eighteenth century mystic religious figure, had left a box of her writings which she instructed could be opened at times of national crises by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of all the bishops of the Church of England. Barltrop considered herself the messenger of Southcott's prophecies. The Panacea Society was a wealthy organization and it had several properties, two of which were on Albany Road. One of the buildings was maintained as a residence for the Messiah after the Second Coming. It is uncertain how the society came into possession of the present cabinet on stand but it surely adorned one of their more formal residences. It was most likely given to the society by one of its members.