A William and Mary floral marquetry cabinet on stand late 17th century, possibly by Thomas Pistor

of walnut, olive oyster, stained fruitwood and ivory inlays, the front and sides elaborately decorated with flower vases and flowers, the two doors opening to reveal shelves and three further drawers, the stand with spirally twisted legs joined by a shaped marquetry stretcher

Littlecote, Hungerford, Berkshire

Gerard Bevan, Leverton Hall, Wiltshire

M. Harris, circa 1920

Sotheby's London, Fine English Furniture (...), 23 May 1980, lot 123

The Estate of Herbert Heidelberger, Christie's New York, 14 April, 1984, lot 152

Wellington Antiques

Hotspur Antiques

Pelham Galleries

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, English Furniture from a Private Collection, Williamstown, Massachussets, 1981, cat. nr. 2.

Herbert Cescinsly and Ernest R.Gribble, Early English Furniture and Woodwork, London, 1922, Illus. vol. 2, p.260, fig. 363.

Anthony Coleridge, 'Case Furniture and Carvers' Work', in Hotspur, Eighty Years of Antiques Dealing, London, 2004, pp.192-193, illustrated.

Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture from Gothic to Sheraton, 1929, ill. pl. 148

M. Riccardi-Cubitt, Un art europeen. Le cabinet de la renaissance a l'epoque modern, Paris, 1993, p.196.

R.W. Symonds, Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture, 1923, page 62, illustrated pl. X.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Adriana Turpin, 'Thomas Pistor, Father and Son and Levens Hall', in Furniture History Society Journal, Vol. XXXVI, 2000, pp.43-58.

Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1996, p. 700.

In overall good conserved condition, veneers are stable and with small repairs. Some of the veneers have been re-engraved. There are two repaired shrinking cracks; loss to veneer to right hand side; top shelf relocated; loss to back column base; feet possibly replaced; stretcher reinforced underneath.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This impressive cabinet bears the influence of Dutch and French cabinet-makers working in the last quarter of the 17^thcentury such as Gerrit Jensen, Jan van Meekeren and Pierre Gole. Gole, a Dutchman who moved to Paris to work for the court, was the spearhead of this art of richly inlaid designs of floral motifs and also creator of the brass and tortoiseshell technique made famous by his son-in-law André-Charles Boulle. Golle's son, Cornelius, as many Protestant craftsmen in France, was obliged to move to England and worked in London with Jensen, establishing the interest for floral wood marquetry in this country. Recent research has revealed another prominent cabinet-maker working in this technique at the turn of the century, Thomas Pistor.

Pistor is documented to be working for James Grahme, Keeper of the Privy Purse and Master of the Buckhounds to James II. A centre table and a cushion framed mirror, commissioned for Bagshot Lodge and later in Levens Hall, relate to the present lot, as they share striking similarities in the handling of the inlaid decoration and its designs. Through the inventories from Bagshot and Levens Hall between 1686 and 1697, we know that Grahme also patronised the royal cabinet-makers John Gumley and Gerrit Jensen.

Thomas Pistor Senior was a London cabinet-maker recorded in Moorfields in 1678. He was also living in Bell Court by 1693 where he had, most likely, his workshop. This should have been of considerable size and importance taking in consideration the taxes paid in the 1690's. In 1679 Pistor was fined by the Joiners Company for employing two foreigners, who would have had an impact in the style of marquetry produced in his workshop.

His homonymous son probably trained with the father, was made free of the Joiners' Company in 1673 and he is recorded as trading from premises in Ludgate Hill. Thomas Pistor Junior died in 1711, six years after his father, and his stock was sold as announced by the Spectator in 22^nd March of that same year.