A fine George III satinwood, yew wood, palmwood crossbanded, sycamore and marquetry commode attributed to Ince and Mayhew (active 1758/9-1804)Circa 1780The moulded rectangular top centred by a yew wood oval medallion bordered by paterae-filled lappets and an outer band of stylised laurel leaves on a calamander ground within a broad satinwood crossbanding, the frieze drawer above a pair of cupboard doors with circular vase-filled medallions and flanked by leaf carved and fluted engaged columns, the sides with further vacant circular medallions, the slightly outset base-moulding on leaf carved and baluster turned feet, with palmwood crossbanding, pearl motif bandings and stringing throughout, traces of the original ebonised finish to the mouldings, 128.5cm wide x 63cm deep x 89cm high, (50 1/2in wide x 24 1/2in deep x 35in high)Footnotes:ProvenanceReputably previously from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Acquired by Hotspur Ltd., London until sold at The Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 10th June 1988, £70,000. A copy of this Hotspur invoice is available to view.The present lot relates to certain documented English Neoclassical commodes in the Louis XVI taste associated with the Soho, London cabinet making partnership Messrs. Ince & Mayhew. Their unifying characteristics are engaged fluted columns of a distinctive design to the front corners and ebonised mouldings to the tops and aprons. Arguably pre-eminent among these is an example almost certainly supplied by the firm to George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea and 4th Earl of Nottingham for Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland circa 1773-1775, sold Christie's, London, Simon Sainsbury: The Creation of an English Arcadia, 18 June 2008, lot 250. Aspects of the offered lot are paralleled on the Rutland commode comprising the almost identical engaged columns to the front corners, the profiling of the mouldings to the top and base and the use of an ebonised finish to the latter. Furthermore, the subtly concave front to the frieze drawer and doors is also featured on the Rutland commode. The Swallowfield Park commodes, sold Christie's London, Important English Furniture, 9 June 2005, lot 250, also represent an important pair of cabinets belonging to the aforementioned group which are of a serpentine configuration with marquetry including similar (possibly yew wood) laurel bound top medallions. These were possibly supplied to Charles, 1st and last Earl Whitworth (1752-1825) and by descent to his sister and thence by descent to Swallowfield Park (see also Lucy Wood op. cit., P. 213, fig. 201). Other related cabinets include a chest of drawers sold Sotheby's, Arts of Europe, 12 May 2015, lot 186 and a serpentine chest, sold Christie's London, The Collector: English Furniture, 22 May, 2019, lot 59. The oval medallion to the top of the offered commode features the use of yew wood, a timber identified as 'possibly unique to Mayhew and Ince among London cabinet makers of this date' (C. Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp.'s 589-593). The firm supplied a veneered yew wood commode to Sir Brook Bridges of Goodnestone Park, Kent, that was exhibited in Treasures from Kent Houses, Royal Museum, Canterbury, September-October 1984, no. 57.The firm of Ince and Mayhew (active 1758/59-1804) were best known for their skilled innovative use of marquetry. Their earliest known commode decorated solely with marquetry dates from as early as 1764. They were also the first to produce semi-elliptical commodes through their involvement with the Countess of Derby's Etruscan commodes for which they were employed by Adam in 1774. Ince and Mayhew's mature Neoclassical marquetry depended upon a vocabulary of large scale motifs, such as urns, tripods and swags, 'coloured and boldly inlaid upon contrasting fields [and] subtle foliage inlaid in different woods'.Comparative LiteratureR. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. II, p. 52, fig. 56L. Wood, The Lady Lever Art Gallery: Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, p. 213, fig. 201.H. Roberts and C. Cator, Industry and Ingenuity: The Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew, 2022, p. 311, pl's. 165-166 and p. 326, pl's. 213-214.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
