A George III mahogany and holly serpentine commode, circa 1770, in the manner of John Cobb

The offered commode demonstrates a sophisticated English interpretation of the French bombé commode and shares stylistic affinities with the work of John Cobb on St. Martin’s Lane. Although of a restrained design, the cabinetmaker has cleverly placed consecutive and book-matched sheets of flame mahogany veneers to give a beautiful fountain effect, across the front face, including the cock-beaded drawers and divides. This aesthetic has been continued across the top, accented by a very unusual painted edge with dashes and dots, for a thoughtfully executed composition. Elsewhere, the crossbanded holly veneer on the body helps to define the larger pattern, enhanced by the contrasting golden and rich wood tones. 

Its frame is serpentined with a slight bombé and drawers echoing the curve of the front angles. The fretted apron is done in the French style, with canted convex corners and raised square splayed legs to give this commode very pleasing proportions. Gilt-metal pierced-back plates of ribbon-tied paterae and swag handles are done in the neoclassical style.  

A very similar commode, likely from the same workshop, sharing the same painted edge, was with Norman Adams (see C. Stevens and S. Whittington, 18^th Century Furniture: The Norman Adams Collection, pp. 388-389, pl. 37) also illustrated in the cover of John Andrews’s British Antique Furniture (6^th edition, 2011).

Interestingly, a painted satinwood commode was sold from the Marquesses of Londonderry Collections, and believed to have been commissioned by the 4th Earl of Holderness, a patron of John Cobb (Christie’s London, 23 May 2014, lot 465). This commode shares the same raised legs and profile of apron, and delicate painted decoration and uses the same mounts as the Norman Adams example. From the same suite, a commode à vantaux, also with painted decoration shares the same apron profile.

The firm of Messrs. Vile and Cobb, cabinetmakers to King George III, are first recorded in the London Directory in 1750 until 1765, with Cobb taking over the firm upon Vile’s retirement. They were some of the leading cabinetmakers of the eighteenth century, rivalling alongside Thomas Chippendale. Cobb became known for his inlaid commodes in the French manner, and many of the accomplished west-end cabinetmakers, including Langlois, Channon and Hallet, were associated with Cobb, and their designers and apprentices moved between competing workshops on St. Martin’s Lane, taking their skills with them. This has made attributions of furniture based on the French models and high quality of craftmanship from this period a cautious task, however associations in the ‘manner of’ do not diminish such quality pieces, as with the present commode.