A George II Brass-Inlaid Padouk Bureau-Cabinet

the curved molded pediment enclosed within a flat cornice, the ends inset with small panels, above a conforming door with a single bevelled glass plate flanked by panelled pilasters with carved wood Corinthian capitals and 'swollen' panelled pedestals, enclosing adjustable shelves and three short drawers, the sides carved at the base with strapwork above 'swollen' pedestals, the sloping front below opening to a leather-inset writing surface with engraved brass hinges and lockplate and with an arrangement or small drawers and a central cupboard flanked by circular tapered columns with carved Corinthian capitals, forming the fronts of small 'secret' drawers, the base with two short and three long drawers with bail handles and inset foliate engraved backplates, the side inset with similarly engraved inset brass cartouches, and supported on bracket feet; the whole embellished with brass moldings and inlaid fine brass lines.

Sold in these rooms, April 26, 1980, lot 86, illus.

Sold, Christie's, New York, January 30, 1982, lot 163, illus.

The Collection of Arne Schlesh
Sold, in these rooms, April 14-16, 2000, lot 364

This magnificent cabinet, conceived in richly figured padouk wood enriched with engraved brass mounts, moldings and lines, belongs to a group of brass-inlaid furniture dating from the second quarter of the 18th century recorded in various public and private collections in England. This group until recently was firmly ascribed to the cabinetmaker John Channon (1711-1779). John, the son and apprentice of Otho Channon, a cabinetmaker recorded as working in Exeter in the early 18th century, was the author of an impressive pair of padouk bookcases inlaid and ornamented in brass which were supplied to Sir William Courtenay for the library at Powderham Castle. One of these has a brass plaque engraved J. Channon Fecit 40, and in the absence of other evidence and similarity of the brass inlay and other mounts to other examples including tables and cabinets, Channon's name became firmly linked with pieces of the type. In 1993 an exhibition was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum and at Temple Newsam House which explored the origins of brass-inlaid furniture in England and introduced the names of other cabinetmakers of the period that advertised or were documented as having worked in this manner. These included Thomas Landall and John Gordon, J. Graveley, and Frederick Hintz who advertised in 1738 'A Choice Parcel of Desks and Book-Cases of Mahogany, Tea-Tables, Tea-Chests, Tea-Boards, etc all curiously made and inlaid with fine Figures of Brass and Mother of Pearl'. A number of Tea-Tables survive which are inlaid in this manner, although the variations in quality make it difficult to ascribe them solely to Hintz's workshop. The book published in conjunction with the exhibition edited by C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch titled John Channon and brass-inlaid furniture 1730-1760 illustrated a bureau-cabinet of very similar form and obviously from the same workshop (pl. 4). Although more richly inlaid with brass and with brass rather than carved wood ornament, it has the same distinctive Corinthian columns supported on 'swollen' pedestals, and also the curious cut-card ornament on the sides. This example was firmly attributed to Channon, but this was thrown into doubt by the discovery of another bureau-cabinet of slightly smaller form, similarly inlaid and ornamented, and with the 'swollen' pedestals to the columns flanking the mirror panelled door. The interior of this cabinet has a small paper label inscribed in ink in script Antrobus/Fecit/1730. The name Antrobus is previously unrecorded, and could either be an apprentice of Channon or an unknown cabinet-maker in his own right. There is no doubt that the present cabinet emanates from the same workshop as the other two recorded, but this recent discovery casts into doubt their actual authorship. The mentioned exhibition contained several examples of other forms of furniture which can be linked with these by comparable mounts, brass inlay, choice of timber and construction, but as none of these is firmly documented any attribution to a particular maker has to remain tentative, although John Channon still appears to be the pre-eminent maker of this important group.

 

See:

C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch (editors) John Channon and brass inlaid furniture 1730-1760, pl. IV

Furniture History Society Journal, 1994, C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, 'Channon Revisited', pp.65-85, figs. 3-5
Country Life Magazine, J. Cornforth, 'Top Brass Toppled", April 14, 1994, figs. 1 and 2