A pair of George I gilt-gesso bureau-cabinets, circa 1720, attributed to James Moore

the gilt surface decorated overall with strap-work and foliage patterns, the pointed arched moulded cornice with a carved shell motif, above sides and two doors with bevelled mirror plates, the interior side of the doors in walnut opening to reveal fitted interior with pigeonholes below central arched door surrounded by small drawers all yew veneered below opening for shelves, the upper section out-facing uprights kingwood veneered, the fall front desk with fitted interior with pigeonholes and drawers also yew veneered,  above  lower section with two short and three long drawers, the sides with carrying handles, all raised on boldly carved paw feet;  Bureau A with replaced mirror plates and replacements to some internal drawers, Bureau B with reinstated feet and shell cresting, both regilt

Bureau A

Mr Alexandre Fernandes,

Sold Sotheby`s London, 3rd June 1977, lot 93.

With Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd, London

Private Collection, London, purchased at The Grosvenor House Antiques Fair from the above, London, 15^th June 1978

Bureau B

By repute, Condessa de Geraz do Lima, Júlia Sofia de Almeida Brandão e Sousa (1832-1891)

By descent until sold at Soares & Mendonça, Lisbon, 1994

Private collection, Lisbon

Sold Christie’s, Important English Furniture, 4th July 2002, lot 100

With Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd, London

Property from a Distinguished Private Collection together with lots 14, 38 and 40.

LITERATURE

‘A Golden Cabinet’, Mallett Spring Catalogue. London: Mallett & Son Antiques, 2003, pp. 6-13.

Murdoch, Tessa, ‘The king’s cabinet-maker: the giltwood furniture of James Moore the Elder’, Burlington Magazine, vol. CXLV, 2003, ill. 8, p. 410.

Synge, Lanto, Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p.52.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

‘Noticia verdadeira do ornato, que se vio nas cazas de Madre Soror Paula Maria’. Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, manuscript - BNL, F.4640 - published in Guimarães, J. Ribeiro, Summario de Varia Historia, 1872, pp. 67-70.

Dias, Carlos Malheiro, Cartas de Lisboa. Primeira Serie (1904), Lisboa, Livraria Classica Editora, 1905, p.109.

Proença, José António, Mobiliário da Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves. 2002, p.183.

Symonds, R. W. 'A Royal Scrutoire', Connoisseur, June 1940, pp. 233-236.

Symonds, R. W., ‘English Gesso Furniture’, The Antique Collector, Vol. XXVII, August 1956, p. 140.

Bureau A This extraordinary bureau is in an overall good conserved condition and can be placed as is. The hardware is original in part: it has original side handles and engraved lock plate to the fall front, original engraved hinges and the key escutcheons are also possibly all original. The door lock is a replacement as well as all the drawer handles. The cabinet has been restored sometime in the 20th century, when the gilding has been stabilized and refreshed; it still keeps its deep carving and the expected wear showing the red bole and gesso underneath, producing an attractive gold colour surface. The feet are original but have been repaired. Fifteen drawers of the desk fittings are possible replacements and definitely re-veneered to match the original yew veneers. Repairs to back board and top and there is a mark of a former divider on the top of the fittings which makes us believe that the removable shelf might be of a later date. The central door of the upper section interior has two shrinking cracks; the desk has now a modern tooled brown velvet surface; some small losses to veneers and gilding consistent with use and age. Replaced bevelled mirror plates. Bureau B In an overall good conserved condition and can be placed as is. The hardware is original in part: it has original side handles and engraved lock plate to the fall front, original engraved hinges and the key escutcheons are also possibly all original. The door lock is a replacement as well as all the drawer handles. The cabinet was restored post-2002, when it was regilt. The feet and the carved shell are not original, and were reinstated in the 2000's, after a previous alteration. The desk has now a modern green velvet surface; some minor losses to gilding. Replaced bevelled mirror plates.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

These extraordinary bureaux can be ranked among the finest examples of 18^thcentury English furniture and are reunited here for the first time after many years apart. They were certainly produced for the Portuguese market in a period when art patronage in Portugal was under the auspices of king Dom João V (r.1709-1750), one of the foremost patrons of arts in 18^th century Europe.

Anglo-Portuguese relations were strengthened after the Treaty of Methuen signed between the two allied countries in 1703. On this treaty, the export of manufactured goods to Portugal was encouraged, furniture included. At the same time, with Portugal's newly found Brazilian wealth, Dom João became an important patron of the arts commissioning works of art from London, Paris and Rome, setting a trend within his court. Although not recorded in any document or inventory associated with the royal house, the present bureaux only have as comparison one other pair of bureau-bookcases, this one in fact historically linked to the King of Portugal, which is mentioned further below.  

Although tempting to also associate the present lot to the royal house, it is worth considering that the commission might have come from a prominent member of the Portuguese court. The ambassador to the court of St. James c.1715-1719, Dom Luís da Cunha (1662-1749), was a sophisticated diplomat and art connoisseur and one could speculate that he would have been involved in this commission on someone's behalf, as his assignment dates coincide with the period when James Moore was at the height of his career.

Bureau A appeared on the Portuguese market in the 1960’s in Lisbon and was sold again at Sotheby’s in 1977 by a Portuguese dealer. Before that we do not know its provenance or when it parted ways from its pair. The second bureau also appeared on the market in Lisbon, with a reputed royal provenance although after extensive documentary research no proof has been found of this connection. When purchased by Mallett in 2002, the London dealers had it conserved and removed the later additions to match the state of bureau A. The additions removed included a plaque with an inscription in Portuguese reading:

“According to the tradition of my family, this beautiful eighteenth century gilded lady's bureau bookcase, of English origin, considered to be unique, belonged to Her Royal Highness Dona Carlota Joaquina, wife of Dom João VI, King of Portugal. It was later offered by  Queen Maria II of Portugal, to her lady-in-waiting the 1st Duchess of Ficalho (Dona Eugenia of  Almeida), and subsequently offered as a birthday present by the 2nd Marques of Ficalho and his wife, to my great grandmother the Countess of Geraz, Lima and Folgosa (Dona Júlia Sofia de Almeida Brandão e Sousa), today belonging to his grandson the 3rd Count of Folgosa (the title created by His Highness Dom Luis I, by decree on 5th December 1885) António Teodorico Ponte Horta Gavazzo do Rego Barreto da Fonseca Magalhães da Costa e Silva (son of the 1st Count of Almarjão).  Carcavelos, Portugal March 1962”.

The second pair of bureaux (fig.1), and the only know comparison to this, was in the collection of the family of one of the King’s lovers, the nun Paula Teresa da Silva e Almeida.  The King was extremely fond of Madre Paula, as she was known, providing her with a lavish life in the monastery of Odivelas. An eighteenth century manuscript existing in the Biblioteca Nacional in Lisbon recorded the interiors of Madre Paula’s lavish private apartments. The account mentions “two bureaux with mirror in the doors, ornamented with gilt reliefs“, which match the bureau first published by R.W.Symonds in 1940. According to the author, this piece was originally made for King João V and stayed with the descendants of Leocádia Assis e Almeida, sister of Madre Paula, until sold in London in the 1930’s. It formed part of the stock of Frank Partridge & Son, of King Street, where it was tragically destroyed during the London Blitz. Its pair, we believe, lives today at Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves Museum in Lisbon, though almost unrecognisable, after losing all gesso decoration, according to Malheiro Dias, on an accident in Funchal harbour. (Cartas de Lisboa, 1905, p.109). It is now red japanned but it keeps the superb yew veneered interior.

In this group of bureaux, gilt-gesso, a type of plaster, was applied on the wooden carcass in layers and then the design would be cut into it. In the same way wood is gilded, a red clay ground was applied and then gold leaves would be individually applied. The decorated surface was then burnished in the raised areas and punched and stippled on the ground, creating different glittering effects and textures. The elaborate French influenced strapwork designs covering almost the entire surface of the exterior in this imposing piece would have had, when delivered to Portugal, a striking effect with its bright shiny surface resembling solid gold, highly appropriate for the gold rich monarch. The rich fitted interiors veneered in yew would originally resemble the then fashionable tortoiseshell. 

The present lot is among the best examples ever made, and certainly the grandest surviving, in this technique and has been attributed to the workshops of the royal cabinet-maker James Moore, the elder (c.1670-d. 1726). They are the only surviving bureaux known to have been fully decorated in gilt-gesso, a technique always seen in smaller pieces such as tables, chests and mirrors. The quality and richness of the design is of the highest order and the unusual feature of having mirror plates on the sides indicate a commission made for the export market. The quality and grandness of the piece and the similar ornament designs found in pieces long attributed to Moore, such as a chest in Boughton House, and the Bateman chest, re-affirm the involvement of this royal cabinet-maker. According to Tessa Murdoch “Moore's giltwood desk with bookcase, (…), demonstrates the application of imported techniques to produce a unique form of English furniture, with the addition of the most sumptuous decoration. (…) The bold design and decoration of the marriage chests and the desk with bookcases indicate Moore's extraordinary level of confidence and invite curiosity about his background and training.” (Murdoch, 2003)

James Moore, of Nottingham Court, Short’s Gardens, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London, had an exceptional career working for a group of forward thinking patrons. He started his career possibly as an apprentice with Elizabeth Gumley and her son John and, in 1714, Moore enters into partnership with the Gumleys, an association that continued until his death in 1726, although it is obvious from surviving documentary evidence that the partners frequently carried out individual commissions, besides those for the Royal Household. Some of Moore’s known patrons include the Duchess of Marlborough, Duchess of Buccleuch, the Duke of Montagu, and the Earl of Burlington.

These bureaux attributed to Moore support much of his reputation, demonstrating a gallant style and utilization of a wide array of influences. His works draws from an awareness of English baroque architecture and from the influence of both oriental export and French styles, but also show a willingness to adapt his production to the export taste. Less progressive in terms of design than some of his other works, and showing Moore’s close contact with the cabinetmaking industry of the Strand, the form of this bureau relates to other pieces made by cabinet-makers such as Peter Miller. The Le Pautre inspired foliated engraved lock and hinges also appear in other period walnut bureaux.