A Regency part-ebonized and parcel-gilt mahogany breakfront cabinet in the manner of Henry Holland circa 1800

Possibly supplied to Sir William Middleton, Bt. (d. 1829), Shrubland Park, Suffolk, England
Thence by descent to Eric Douglas Saumarez, 7th Baron de Saumarez
Sotheby's London, September 19, 2006, lot 202A

Overall good condition. Gilding refreshed. Some very minor nicks and wear to gilding. Ebonized sides with some inpainting. Feet with some small chips. Decoration with some inpainting. Cabinet is sturdy and wtih a very nice profile. Some minor bending to the brass gallery.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present cabinet shares similarities with a design for a pier table and wardrobe by Henry Holland for Woburn Abbey, circa 1788 (see Peter Ward-Jackson, English Furniture Designs of the 18th Century, pl. 302). In particular these feature pilaster columns wreathed in spiralling foliage headed by stiff leaf capitals which corresponds to the spiral fluted tapering columns and toupee feet found on the present cabinet.

A closely related cabinet with identical spiral-fluted legs and concave center formerly with the Savoy Croft family, Ayrshire, sold Sotheby's London, 8-22 May 1992, lot 278.  A further comparable example with a concave center and similar form is illustrated in Clifford Musgrave, Regency Furniture, London, 1961, pl. 51.

Henry Holland was the Prince Regent's architect from the late 1780s, and worked at both the Brighton Pavilion and Carlton House. He was an authority on contemporary French design and decoration, an influence which he employed with great success in the interiors of Carlton House, integrating colors and styles to form complete interiors such as the Flesh Coloured Room or Rose Satin Drawing Room.

In association with the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, Holland purchased French Neoclassical furniture for the Prince Regent by makers such as Weisweiler, Jacob and Hervé, and it is from these sources, rather than his British contemporaries, that Holland's own furniture designs derive. Comparable furniture from Southhill, Bedfordshire - Holland's most complete surviving interior - is illustrated in Frances Collard, Regency Furniture, 1985, pp. 38-43.

Holland employed most of the major cabinet-making firms of the day in one or another of his projects - notably Morel, Marsh, Tatham, Mayhew and Ince, and Bailey and Saunders - and exerted considerable influence on a whole generation of British designers. Thomas Sheraton's pattern book The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book,1793 includes two illustrations of the Chinese Drawing Room at Carlton House.