Classic Design: Furniture, Clocks, Silver & Ceramics
Classic Design: Furniture, Clocks, Silver & Ceramics
Property from an Esteemed European Collection
Lot closes
November 12, 02:43 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
Starting Bid
15,000 GBP
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Read more.Lot Details
Description
the superstructure with moulded edge and gilt-bronze open work gallery, the cylinder reveals pigeon holes and four small drawers, the writing surface inset with brown gilt-tooled leather, the kneehole with a central drawer flanked by a coffre-fort to the left and two short drawers to the right, resting on square tapering legs terminating in gilt-bronze feet with castors gilt-bronze mounts, stamped J.L. COSSON, the reverse of the coffre-fort lid with a handwritten label reading "cabinet left to Henry Rich by Earl of Essex. said Earl died April 23 1839- /Gold repeater watch with engraved Coronet and cypher - also left to H. Rich", extensively re-mounted
114.5cm high, 145.5cm wide, 79.5cm deep; 45 1/8in., 57 1/4in., 31 3/8in.
According to paper label, formerly in the collections of George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757-1839);
Upon his death, given to Mr Henry Rich.
Jacques-Laurent Cosson (1737-1812) was a cabinet maker working on the rue de Caronne in Paris. He was made a maitre ébéniste in 1765.[1]Cosson did produce a number of highly elaborate pieces of marquetry furniture during the reign of Louis XV – for example, a commode sold at Sotheby’s London, 24th June 1988, lot 56. However, these two tables are much more characteristic of Cosson’s restrained and ‘often sober’ style.[2] Pierre Kjellberg comments that Cosson’s most typical pieces were, veneered in solid wood, ‘with bands of solid gilded bronze’, which is entirely in keeping with the present lot.[3]
The Earl of Essex referenced in the label on the underside of the lid was George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757-1839). He was a notable patron of the arts, instructing James Wyatt and Humphrey Repton to carry out extensive work to the house and garden of the family seat, Cassiobury House. In his obituary, his additions to Cassiobury were commended as ‘the best evidence that can be adduced of the good taste and good sense of the munificent master of the domain.’[4] While it is not known who Henry Rich – the desk’s inheritor – was, Capel-Coningsby died without an heir and the estate and title passed to his nephew.
The bureau à cylindre was a popular furniture form at the end of the eighteenth century. When unlocked, the covering cylinder can be rolled back seamlessly into the recesses of the carcase, revealing a writing surface and – typically a series other drawers and pigeonholes in which to store writing materials, as well as providing greater security and peace of mind to its owner. A near-identical model – though with was sold at Sotheby’s London, 24th November 1988, lot 100.
[1] Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Francais du XVIIIe Siècle : Dictionnaire des Ebénistes et des Menuisiers. Paris, Les éditions de l’amateur, 1998, 178.
[2] ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Obituary: The Earl of Essex”, The Gentleman’s Magazine. 165-166, June 1839.
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