L O N D O N N E W Y O R K

AN ADAM PERIOD MARQUETRY COMMODE

An important late 18th century marquetry commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince, in satinwood crossbanded in tulipwood with running guilloche and paterae inlay, the top having flowerheads alternating with leafy swags tied with ribbon bows holding three cupid pendants, surrounding a central sunburst motif. The central frieze drawer further inlaid with swags above a single bowed cupboard, flanked by further doors, each decorated with ribbon-tied swags, anthemion and flower heads, with guilloche and paterae borders. Raised on square tapering legs ending in leaf marquetry feet. The converted side cupboard doors each having a shelf.

England, circa 1775

Dimensions: Height: 34 in (87 cm)Length: 48 in (123 cm)Depth: 20 in (52 cm)

Provenance:Lady Sarah Cohen, purchased from Partridge, 1963.By descent to her daughter, the late Irene Kreitman.

F2G0382 (FX079)

THE ‘GOLDEN AGE’ OF ENGLISH FURNITURE

This marquetry commode represents the peak of neo-classical furniture design and execution during a period regarded as the ‘Golden Age’ of English furniture. The cultural elite of the day commissioned highly refined neo-classical ornament and design. So unanimous was its acceptance that it became a truly national expression affecting the work of virtually every English cabinet maker and designer including the partnership of John Mayhew and William Ince, Robert Adam, Thomas Sheraton and William Chambers. England had created her own highly sophisticated domestic style which was emulated even by the French from whom England traditionally turned to for cultural inspiration.

A commode undoubtedly from the same workshop as the present commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince, circa 1775, sold by Mallett in 1991 and now in a private collection. Illustrated in Lanto Synge, Mallett MIllenium, Antique Collectors Club, London, 1999, page 185.

THE ATTRIBUTION TO MAYHEW AND INCE

This commode was almost certainly made by the London cabinet makers John Mayhew and William Ince who ranked the King, the 4th Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Manchester, the Earl of Coventry and the Earl of Kerry among their distinguised aristocratic clients. The firm was one of the longest lived of any of the major London cabinet makers of the eighteenth century being partners from 1759 until 1804. The partnership’s volume of engraved designs, The Universal System of Household Furniture, published in 1762, was dedicated to the Duke of Marlborough for whom the firm supplied furniture for Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The Universal System was published in both English and French which was perhaps as much a declaration to their British clientele of their cosmopolitan designs as a serious bid for French patronage.

The decoration on this cabinet relates to Mayhew and Ince’s marquetry style in the 1770s and 1780s. Stylistic characteristics include the combination of the flowerhead paterae, husks and ribbon-ties with antique ornament and putti derived from classical engravings. The illusion of depth is created by delicate surface pen work engraving on the exotic inlaid woods that contrast against the pale satinwood ground.

These decorative elements feature on a marquetry commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince sold by Mallett in 1991, however the commodes also share structural similarities. Lucy Wood, the author of the seminal Catalogue of Commodes viewed the earlier example at Mallett and related it to two semi-elliptical marquetry commodes attributed to Mayhew and Ince at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. All feature a wide central door flanked by two smaller blind panels as did this present example, similar backboard construction and joinings.

A group of furniture at Badminton has been associated with large payments made to Mayhew and Ince by the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort between 1778 and 1798 and include two semi-elliptical commodes, a pair of side tables, a pair of corner cupboards, and a small oval topped table. The Badminton cabinet has a drawer in the frieze as also seen in this example and very similar marquetry design to the top where are three medallions hung from ribbon tied swags.The Badminton commode again has the structural similarity of blind quandrant spaces either side of the central cupboard.

Two commodes attributed to Mayhew and Ince in The Lady Lever Collection illustrated in The Catalogue of Commodes by Lucy Wood, HMSO, London, 1994, colour plate 31 and 29.

A detail of the top of the commode at Badminton next to the top of this present example. Illustrated in The Catalogue of Commodes by Lucy Wood, HMSO, London, 1994, page 232.

The Badminton commode by Mayhew and Ince Illustrated in The Catalogue of Commodes by Lucy Wood, HMSO, London, 1994, page 232.

ROBERT ADAM AND THE NEO-CLASSICAL REVIVAL

Robert Adam relied heavily on the designs and ornament of Ancient Rome in his publications of designs, Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam in 1773-78 and 1779. Adam’s engravings fuelled a craze for Roman classical grandeur and order and marked a return to classic restraint and a greater delicacy of ornament. The commission for this commode offered by Mallett fell in the midst of this trend. Designers were deriving inspiration from Italy as a result of the excavations at Herculaneum after 1738, Pompeii after 1748, and with the engravings of Roman designs by Giovanni Piranesi after 1748.

Young noble Englishmen returning from their Grand Tour of the Continent desired to transform their London houses and country seats into temples of culture and luxury to reflect the classical architecture and ornament they had studied. This desire for classical proportion, function and design was extended from architecture to decoration. Mayhew and Ince collaborated with Adam on a number of commissions including Syon House, Apsley House, and Derby House, where the furniture and architectural detailing was co-ordinated to produce a unified interior.

Detail of classical motifs and intricate marquetry on one of a pair of cabinets attributed to Thomas Chippendale, circa 1770, commissioned for Panshanger in Hertfordshire, showing a break from his Chinese and Rococo inspired designs in favour of the neo-classical revival. Illustrated in The Dictionary of English Furniture by Ralph Edwards, Antique Collectors’ Club, Volume 1, p. 193.

Detail from one of a pair of commodes attributed to William Moore. Irish, circa 1785. Mallett archive.

THE INFLUENCE OF MAYHEW AND INCE

Neo-classical design spread to Ireland through William Moore of Dublin who trained with Mayhew and Ince and settled in Dublin around 1782. The marquetry of a commode by Moore and the one currently offered by Mallett may be closely related and show a broad understanding of neo-classical subjects. Characteristics of Moore’s work influenced by Mayhew and Ince are his use of ribbon tied swags, floral garlands, classical tripod urns, anthemia and arabesques. Mayhew and Ince’s furniture may be found in important international collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Lady Lever Art Gallery (Liverpool), The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Victoria and Albert Museum (London) as well as a large number of historic National Trust properties throughout the United Kingdom.

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