A Victorian Gothic revival oak cabinet circa 1880

in the manner of J.P.Seddon, of architectural form, the arched top above a niche with a mirror back and a cornice with applied hardstones including amethyst, and four glazed doors enclosing shelves and a central niche with two banks of cupboards doors enclosing shelves, the lower section with three flaps above four panelled doors flanking a central mirrored cupboard door    

This piece is overall in good condition. There are some minor losses to the carved gesso ornament on the corner triangular turrets. The central niche has a metal fastener to top and base suggsting that a section or ornament may be missing. The mirror plate is discoloured. Minor chips to some of the hardstone ornaments. Minor losses throughout to carved details. Losses to the carved bracket feet particularly on left hand side. The lower mirror plate is also discoloured and damage to back visible from the inside. Right hand return edge cracked. Inlaid roundels missing on the butteress on the centre of the cabinet. The left hand niche with repair to the canopy and with some inlaid roundels also missing. The piece could benefit from some largely cosmetic restoration.
"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."

John Pollard Seddon (1827-1906) was an English architect who worked in the Gothic revival style. His father was a cabinet maker and his brother Thomas Seddon (1821-1856) was a landscape painter.  Despite the fact that Seddon was the pupil of Thomas Leverton Donaldson who was a classical architect, he preferred the Gothic revival of John Ruskin and others of that ilk. Between 1852 and 1869, Seddon formed a partnership with John Prichard (1817-1886)  and from 1884-1894 he formed another partnership with John Coates Carter (1859-1927). With Prichard, many of his commissions were church restoration  works, most famously Llandarf Cathedral. With Prichard amongst other buildings, he designed the High Victorian Gothic Ettington Park, Warwickshire ( c.1856-62). Other works included University College, Aberystwyth, Wales, (1864-1890), The Powell Almshouses, Fulham, (1869-1870),  St Peter`s Church, Ayot St Peter, Hertfordshire (1874-5). He also designed furniture in this high Gothic style and his best-known piece is a cabinet for his architectural drawings which was decorated by Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Madox Brown  with panels on the theme of King René`s Honeymoon and was exhibited on the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co stand at the 1862 International Exhibition, illustrated in Jeremy Cooper, Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, From  the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau, 1987,pl. 226  and which is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He was a prolific designer of furniture and decorations such as tiles. Over two thousand drawings of his for furniture and the decorative arts were presented to the Victoria and Albert museum in 1896 by his daughter including designs for an architectural bookcase and designs for an organ both of which are illustrated in Jeremy Cooper, op. cit,  pl.23 and 228. The present lot, also in high Victorian style, clearly shows these influences.