A fine Regency inlaid mahogany and ebony collector's cabinet, attributed to George Bullock circa 1815

the upper and lower sections each fitted with a pair of cupboard doors opening to two banks of short drawers.

Overall good restored condition; very good quality; mahogany case sides, mahogany drawer fronts; solid mahogany doors; mahogany lined drawers; the upper section with slight warpage to the doors; one drawer to the left bank with a large age crack; bowing to the drawer fronts with slight warpage; the ebony card slots with small age cracks; the inlaid floral banding with lifting and tears to the right side and with tearing to the veneer at the side right corner over lines of construction and now with some inpainting; left cupboard door with small stress tears to the veneers at the bottom left and upper right corners; the right cupboard door with small stress tear to the veneer at upper right corner. The lower section slight warpage to the doors; with a drawer with a chalked inscription Wigan; small chip to top of divider between drawer banks with some inpainting; old worm to top of case; small chips wear and veneer patches to feet and bottom apron. Overall with old marks, scratches, scuffs, bruises and nicks 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.

This collector's cabinet can be firmly attributed to the workshop of George Bullock (b.1777-1778- d.1818).  A two-part bookcase with a central section of similar form, with acroteria to the corners of the upper section, is in a design for a bookcase by George Bullock in the Wilkinson Tracings, Birmingham City Art Gallery (Mss. p. 98), and another is illustrated, Clive Wainwright, ed., George Bullock Cabinet Maker, 1988, pp. 101-104, no. 40.   The ebony-inlaid stylized palmette to the cresting to the upper section and the apron of the lower section is found on much of Bullock's work, including a pair of cabinets made for the Duke of Atholl, C. Wainwright, op. cit., pp. 67-71, no. 9, and found in the Wilkinson Tracings, p. 86, City Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham; a pair of cabinets, op. cit., pp. 85-87, no. 23; a cabinet, op. cit., pp. 107-108, no. 44.  The inlaid frieze panel of flowerheads and foliage is related to the design for the bookcase in the Wilkinson Tracings mentioned above and is identical to the frieze of a center table sold in these rooms, December 12, 1981, lot 446.  A number of similar designs for these are preserved in a volume now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery which is entitled 'Tracings by Thomas Wilkinson from the designs of the late Mr. George Bullock 1820'. Bullock used ebony veneers on much of his furniture as well as fine mahogany, including the exceptional mahogany veneers and solid mahogany drawer linings of the present cabinet.  A similar cabinet by Bullock, now in the V&A and illustrated in Christopher Wilk, Western Furniture, 1350 to the Present Day, London: Cross River Press, 1996, pp. 142, 143, is fitted with three cupboard doors opening to banks of short drawers almost identical to those of the present lot and intended for collections of coins, medals or natural history specimens.

Bullock had a varied career, having various partners and cabinet works both in Liverpool and London until his death; although, it is clear that he was originally trained as a sculptor and modeler.   It was noted in August 1798 that although he had 'gained such repute in Birmingham' he was 'returning to London, the statue business not answering his expectations'.  He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1804 and is then recorded in Liverpool in 1804 as a 'Modeller and Sculptor'.  In the same year he formed a partnership with William Stoakes, a 'Looking Glass Manufacturer', as 'Bullock and Stoakes Cabinet Makers, General Furnishers and Marble Workers, 48 Church Street'.  Their premises were called the 'Grecian Room', but by 1807 the partnership was over, Bullock moving his 'Grecian Room' to 13 Bold Street. In 1809-1810 he joined Soane's assistant J. M. Gandy in a partnership styled 'Bullock, George and Joseph Gandy, architects, modelers, sculptors, marble masons, cabinet makers and upholsterers' at 55 Church Street.  Again the partnership did not prosper and by late 1810 Bullock was living in London, opening in 1813 at the Grecian Rooms, Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly as 'George Bullock, upholsterer'.  In 1815 he was established as 'Sculptor, 4 Tenterden Street, Hanover Square, Mona Marble and Furniture Works, Oxford Street'.