Lot 18: A GEORGE III SATINWOOD HAREWOOD AND TULIPWOOD MARQUETRY DEMI-LUNE COMMODE CIRCA 1780

the frieze with a drawer flanked by hinged compartments above a cupboard door enclosing a shelf, losses to marquetry tablet centering the top

89cm. high, 120cm. wide, 59cm. deep; 2ft. 11in., 3ft. 11¼in., 1ft. 11¼in.

circa 1780

The present commode relates to a commode, attributed to Mayhew and Ince, sold by Sotheby's New York in: Tom Devenish: The Collection, 24 April 2008, lot 122.

The attribution of the Devenish commode to Mayhew and Ince, one of the most significant firms of London cabinet makers of the late 18th century, was largely based on the fine quality of the marquetry inlay in variously coloured and engraved woods and on the strongly Neo-classical elements of the design. The firm is recorded as working with the famous architect Robert Adam on many important commissions including Croome Court and Shelburne Castle and his influence is demonstrated in 'their ability to produce very early on, furniture in the most startling advanced Neo-classical taste.....and certainly owed much to their early collaboration with the country's leading Neo-classical architects', Beard and Gilbert, The Dictionary of Furniture Makers 1660-1840. The overall form of the present commode, the quality of design and the marquetry, also suggest Mayhew and Ince as a possible maker.

The present commode also however shares strong affinities with the work of the émigré Swedish cabinet maker Christopher Fuhrlohg. Born in Stockholm around 1740, Fuhrlohg came from a Swiss family which had earlier emigrated to Sweden. As a young man he travelled to Amsterdam and later Paris where he received his earlier training probably serving his apprenticeship in the workshop of the leading ébéniste, Simon Oeben. In 1766 or 1767, he arrived in England where he was joined by his future brother-in-law George Haupt, who had previously accompanied him to Amsterdam and Paris and who was himself a distinguished cabinet maker. Both men are thought to have found employment in the workshop of John Linnell. Fuhrlohg became well known for his skill in making Neo-classical marquetry panels and regularly participated in the annual exhibitions of the Free Society of Artistsof Great Britain where in 1773 he presented a 'bacchante in inlay', and in 1774 a 'Venus attired by the Graces in inlay', together with a 'Flora in inlay'.

In 1775 he exhibited a panel of 'The Muse Erato in different coloured woods inlaid' and in the following year a 'Diana in stained wood, a circle'. The inlaid Neo-classical panels on the present commode are typical of his work and also relate closely to panels on a pair of commodes designed by Robert Adam in 1773, made by Mayhew and Ince and attributed to Fuhrlohg in Osterley Park, Middlesex, illustrated in Maurice Tomlin, Victoria and Albert Museum, 'Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture', 1972, p.44.