A FINE GEORGE III INLAID MAHOGANY SERPENTINE-FRONTED CHEST OF DRAWERS IN THE MANNER OF MAYHEW AND INCE CIRCA 1775

the top drawer with a small oval black ivorine plaque with A. Stair & Co., the interior lining to the top drawer marked N.563 to the blue paper, the underside of first drawer divider with chalked inscription 3gn beside a diagram of a trapezoid with chalked numbers 2 ½  / 30 / 21, the back bearing a partial printed label.

Stair & Co., New York

Overall good restored condition, the back with some areas of old worm, minor shrinkage tears to veneers of top with inpainting, old infilled age cracks to side panels, infilled chips and minor veneer patches, the outsides of the back legs inlaid, overall, old marks, scratches, scuffs and bruises consistent with age and use.
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.

Facets of the simple yet sophisticated design of this chest of drawers, together with the excellence of the quality of its cabinet making, allow a possible attribution to the London partnership of Mayhew and Ince (1758/9-1804) which was 'one of the most significant', but 'least well documented of any of the major London cabinetmakers of the 18^th century' (Beard & Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1680-1840., pp. 589-598).  It combines a number of motifs, characteristic of Mayhew and Ince, such as the use of husks suspended from a patera down the stiles; a chest of drawers with the inlaid pendent husks probably by Mayhew and Ince is illustrated, F. Lewis Hinckely, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and Regency Furniture, New York, 1987, plate 100, fig. 255 and the use of square tapering feet inlaid with ebonized veneers to simulate fluting.  Similar feet can be found on a secretary bookcase in the Victoria and Albert Museum. (illustrated, Desmond Fitz-Gerald, Georgian Furniture, London, 1969, no. 126)  The cockbeading of the present lot was ebonized, and as Beard and Gilbert (op. cit.) note, 'the molded borders of commodes, tables and chests, especially when free of ormolu, were often strengthened by ebonizing, a highly unusual device perhaps unique to the firm'.  This feature, together with legs and feet, and the use of husks seen in the present lot, is evident in pair of commodes attributed to Mayhew and Ince (sold, Christie's, New York, April 15, 2005, lot 251) and to a bureau by Mayhew and Ince for the 2^nd Viscount Palmerston at Broadlands. (H. Roberts, 'Towards an English Louis Seize.  Furniture at Broadlands, Hampshire-II', Country Life, February 5, 1981, pl. 346, fig. 1).