A George II Mahogany Bureau Cabinet, Circa 1745
Auction Closed
October 15, 06:30 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
the upper section with broken pediment crest above and egg-and-dart and dentilated cornice with acanthus-carved frieze centred by a satyr mask, the glazed doors enclosing an interior with central niche, compartments and drawers; above three short drawers; the lower section with slant front enclosing drawers and pigeonholes above a frieze drawer and central kneehole recess with cupboard flanked by detached fluted columns and two tiers of three short drawers on bracket feet; later locks, escutcheons and side carrying handles on upper and lower sections
height 98 in.; width 48 in.; depth 25 in.
249 cm; 122 cm; 63.5 cm
Jean Flagler Matthews, Brookside, Rye, New York, thence by descent;
Christie's New York, 12 October 1996, lot 214;
James F. Scott, Gallison Hall, Charlottesville, Virginia;
Sotheby's New York, Gallison Hall: The James F. Scott Collection, 15 October 2018, lot 92.
The boldly proportioned pediment and frieze with deeply carved acanthus scrolls centering a satyr's mask is typical of the late Palladian style in English furniture design in the manner of the architect and tastemaker William Kent (d.1748). Moulded broken triangular pediments remained a popular crowning element for bureau cabinets and bookcases well into the mid-18th century, often seen in the work of the royal cabinetmakers William Hallett (c.1707-81) and his apprentice William Vile. A bureau cabinet with a similar pediment was in the celebrated Percival Griffiths collection, ill. Edwards and Macquoid, The Dictionary of the English Furniture (London 1954), Vol. I, p.145 fig.48, and the form was still considered sufficiently fashionable to appear in both the First (1754, pl.XLLVII) and Third (1762, pl.CVII) editions of Chippendale's Director.
Jean Flagler Matthews (d.1979) was the granddaughter of Standard Oil founder Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913), one of America's richest men and famous for developing Palm Beach and Miami as holiday resorts. It was she who was responsible for saving Whitehall, Flagler's Gilded Age mansion in Palm Beach, from demolition in 1959 and overseeing its conversion into the Flagler Museum.
