LOT 7
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A Charles II Gilt Metal-Mounted Black and Gold Japanned Cabinet, Circa 1685
作品估价：USD 30,000 - 50,000
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成交状态：待拍
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26%
图录号：
7
拍品名称：
A Charles II Gilt Metal-Mounted Black and Gold Japanned Cabinet, Circa 1685
拍品描述：
the stand decorated with a figure of Mercury on the frieze flanked by acanthus and floral scrolls and putti and shells on the sides, on putto herm scrolling legs, the crest similarly carved with acanthus and floral scrolls and putti; the cabinet with two doors opening to reveal an internal arrangement of ten drawers with later pulls; some mounts replaced; stampedBFtwice on the top and twice on the back and inscribed1916on the back; re-gilt, previously silvered
height 75 in.; width 46 in.; depth 23 in.
190.5 cm; 117 cm; 58.5 cm
出处
Christie's New York, 19 April 2012, lot 149
图录说明
The full splendour of the lavish Charles II taste is on display in this japanned cabinet, its carved giltwood stand and matching crest. While the decorative arts in Britain had been suffering during the dour Puritan Commonwealth regime, the future Charles II had been spending his exile in French palaces and receiving a pension from Louis XIV. When he later assumed power in the 1660 Restoration, he brought with him from France a “politer way of living” that espoused an opulent grandeur in furniture and decoration. This period of extravagance would later subside into a less sculptural, more Dutch-influenced taste after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
The style of carving on the present stand is typical of the Carolean taste, with prominently placed figures interlaced with foliage. The carved aprons and crests were often pierced, adding an open lightness to the composition, and reached impressive sizes – it is rarer to find a cabinet that still preserves its crests, since they are often lost over the centuries. This type of carving, bursting with vitality and often incorporating emblems of fertility like cornucopiae, was not solely confined to cabinet stands and crests, with a splendid bed for James II (NT 129447)and entire suites of seat furniture in this Baroque style (e.g.NT 129527.1) preserved at Knole in Kent. Some examples have a silvered finish to the wood instead of gilding, reflecting the vogue for silvered or silver furniture in the court of Louis XIV.
The cabinet, meanwhile, is a fine example of the English imitation of East Asian lacquer. This material is also characteristic of fine furniture in the final decades of the seventeenth century, with European techniques for mimicking the hard, glossy finish of lacquer becoming ever more sophisticated and decorative (though ultimately lacking the sap of thetoxicodendron vernicifluumtree that is native to China and is the secret ingredient of ‘true’ lacquer). This even became a popular non-professional activity, with influential 1688 manual calledTreatise of Japanninggiving clear instructions to amateurs on how to create lacquer in a variety of colours.
Examples of japanned cabinets on gilt or silvered Carolean stands can be seen today at numerous country houses in Britain, such as Chastleton in Oxfordshire (NT 1429997); The Vyne in Hampshire (NT 718764) and Snowshill in Gloucestershire (NT 1331895), as well as one formerly at Athelhampton House, Dorset, sold Sotheby's New York, 18 June 2024, lot 1004. Those examples do not have crests, though this was sometimes a deliberate choice at the time to allow for the display of porcelain garnitures on the flat top of the cabinet. For examples of japanned cabinets-on-stands that do retain crests, seeChristie’s New York, 22 October 2022, lot 353; Sotheby’s London, 30 November 2001; Christie’s New York, 19 October 2000, lot 199; and Christie’s London, 3 July 1996, lot 66.
height 75 in.; width 46 in.; depth 23 in.
190.5 cm; 117 cm; 58.5 cm
出处
Christie's New York, 19 April 2012, lot 149
图录说明
The full splendour of the lavish Charles II taste is on display in this japanned cabinet, its carved giltwood stand and matching crest. While the decorative arts in Britain had been suffering during the dour Puritan Commonwealth regime, the future Charles II had been spending his exile in French palaces and receiving a pension from Louis XIV. When he later assumed power in the 1660 Restoration, he brought with him from France a “politer way of living” that espoused an opulent grandeur in furniture and decoration. This period of extravagance would later subside into a less sculptural, more Dutch-influenced taste after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
The style of carving on the present stand is typical of the Carolean taste, with prominently placed figures interlaced with foliage. The carved aprons and crests were often pierced, adding an open lightness to the composition, and reached impressive sizes – it is rarer to find a cabinet that still preserves its crests, since they are often lost over the centuries. This type of carving, bursting with vitality and often incorporating emblems of fertility like cornucopiae, was not solely confined to cabinet stands and crests, with a splendid bed for James II (NT 129447)and entire suites of seat furniture in this Baroque style (e.g.NT 129527.1) preserved at Knole in Kent. Some examples have a silvered finish to the wood instead of gilding, reflecting the vogue for silvered or silver furniture in the court of Louis XIV.
The cabinet, meanwhile, is a fine example of the English imitation of East Asian lacquer. This material is also characteristic of fine furniture in the final decades of the seventeenth century, with European techniques for mimicking the hard, glossy finish of lacquer becoming ever more sophisticated and decorative (though ultimately lacking the sap of thetoxicodendron vernicifluumtree that is native to China and is the secret ingredient of ‘true’ lacquer). This even became a popular non-professional activity, with influential 1688 manual calledTreatise of Japanninggiving clear instructions to amateurs on how to create lacquer in a variety of colours.
Examples of japanned cabinets on gilt or silvered Carolean stands can be seen today at numerous country houses in Britain, such as Chastleton in Oxfordshire (NT 1429997); The Vyne in Hampshire (NT 718764) and Snowshill in Gloucestershire (NT 1331895), as well as one formerly at Athelhampton House, Dorset, sold Sotheby's New York, 18 June 2024, lot 1004. Those examples do not have crests, though this was sometimes a deliberate choice at the time to allow for the display of porcelain garnitures on the flat top of the cabinet. For examples of japanned cabinets-on-stands that do retain crests, seeChristie’s New York, 22 October 2022, lot 353; Sotheby’s London, 30 November 2001; Christie’s New York, 19 October 2000, lot 199; and Christie’s London, 3 July 1996, lot 66.