A George III mahogany commode, circa 1770-75, attributed to Mayhew and Ince

the crossbanded and boxwood strung rectangular eared top, above four long drawers with ebonised cock beading, flanked by finely carved fluted split-columns headed with and capped with laurel foliage, on spirally fluted tapering legs with gadrooned tapering feet, the brass wreath ring pulls original

A superb piece of great quality in good untouched condition with excellent colour. Old marks and scratches commensurate with age and use, notably to the top. The moulded edge with residue from original ebonised surface. The top with two minor age cracks/restored breaks to the rear ends of the moulded edge. The handles are original and the gilding is therefore worn. There are chips and losses to the cock beading and moulding.
"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."

Comparative literature:

Ralph Edwards and Percy Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, Vol. II, p. 52, fig. 56.

This supremely elegant commode is a fine example of the restrained neo-classical output of Mayhew and Ince and can be confidently attributed to their workshop on stylistic grounds. Theirs was one of the most successful and enduring cabinet-making partnerships of the eighteenth century. They are first recorded as partners in December 1758, advertising from an address at Broad Street in January 1759. Earlier Mayhew had been apprenticed to William Bradshaw, and Ince to John West, before forming a brief partnership after West`s death in 1758 with Samuel Norman and James Whittle. In 1763 they were described as `cabinet-makers, carvers and upholders’, and in 1778 `manufacturers of plate glass’ appeared on their bill heading.

One of their early ventures was to publish The Universal System of Household Furniture in 1762 which included eighty-nine numbered plates and six smaller ones dedicated to their great patron the 4th Duke of Marlborough. The relative failure of this work, which was issued in only one edition, was probably caused by the distinctly Rococo manner of the designs which became rapidly unfashionable in the years which followed due to the rise of the neo-classical taste reflected in the present commode. The partnership was quick to embrace these new forms as is shown by their own work and their involvement with Robert Adam himself in making furniture to his own designs for many of his important clients. Mayhew and Ince worked for many notable patrons who included the Prince of Wales, the 5^th Duke of Devonshire, the 5^th Duke of Bedford, the 1^st Duke of Northumberland and the 4^th Duke of Marlborough.

The present lot has striking similarities to a commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince and originally commissioned for 4th Earl Nottingham for Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland (sold Christie’s, London, Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, 18 June 2008, lot 250, £679,650). The Burley-on-the-Hill commode is a masterpiece of Mayhew and Ince’s output in the French taste with wonderful neo-classical flourishes. The overall shape, with its eared top and gently out-curved drawer ends, relates closely to the design of the present commode, whilst individual elements such as the wreath ring handles and the spirally fluted tapering legs are almost identical. The employment of ebonised borders is recurrent feature of many Mayhew and Ince pieces from this period, and the present commode has traces of an ebonised surface to the moulded edge of the top, the cock-beaded drawers and the carved split-columns. A small commode from the Arthur Leidersdorf Collection (sold Sotheby’s, London, 27^th-28^th June 1974, lot 101 and again on 10 February 1989, lot 82) shares similar features, as does a mahogany dressing-chest also attributed to the firm (sold Christie’s London, 4 July 1996, lot 389).

The quality of the carved detail of the present lot is exceptional and is matched only by the cabinet-makers’ attention to detail, which is brilliantly demonstrated by the use of banding to the upper edge of the second drawer, cleverly employed to have the appearance of the drawer divides above and below.