Circa 1775
A George III Commode attribued to Mayhew and Ince Circa 1775
Cross banded throughout, the hinged top centred by a half sunflower and shaded fan within a flower-sprig border and with a wide band of trailing leaf vines, above a frieze with acanthus leaves and drapery swags; below are three doors each with an oval medallion, the centre door with a painted oval panel depicting Diana from a drawing by Francesco Bartolozzi RA, 1728 -1815 who was active in Britain between 1764 -1799. The side doors with swagged urns and foliate scrolls; all within bell-flower borders, each door enclosing three blue paper-lined drawers, on later square feet.
The features of the semi-elliptical commode conform with those identified as characteristic of Mayhew and Ince, the celebrated Golden-Square, London cabinet-makers. These were first discussed in Hugh Robert’s, 'The Derby House Commode', The Burlington Magazine, vol.CXXVII, no.986, May 1985, pp275 - 283, while a group of related commodes from the collection formed by William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925) at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, are detailed in Lucy Wood’s, Catalogue of Commodes, 1994.
The commode’s top is centered by a sunflower and fan patera which corresponds to a commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince and illustrated in Lucy Wood (ibid, pp.236-238, no.28), while the unusual treatment of the husk or split-leaf that decorates the frieze and borders the painted medallion relates to a commode made from a side table attributed to the firm (L.Wood, ibid, pp.299-302, no.40). The husk wreath bordering the oval panel in the door is similar to that on a serpentine commode in the Leverhulme collection (L.Wood, ibid, pp.217-221, no.24). The overall form of this commode is unusual in that the stiles dividing the doors taper as if it were to have been a side table, with the doors correspondingly shaped. Two similar examples are illustrated in Lucy Wood’, ibid, pp.226-235 and 236-238, nos.27 and 28.
Provenance
Wentworth Castle. Almost certainly made for William Wentworth, the second Earl of Strafford, 1722-1791 who re-designed the house in 1759-1764 in a Palladian style.
By descent and sold to John D Rockefeller in 1938 for his dinning room in New York. Sold by his widow at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York October 15th 1971 Lot 496.
Measurements
| DIMENSIONS | CM | INCHES |
|---|---|---|
| Width: | 126 | 50 |
| Depth: | 54 | 21 |
| Height: | 89 | 35 |