A George III satinwood, harewood and marquetry commode attributed to Ince & Mayhew
circa 1785,

of demilune outline, the crossbanded top decorated with paterae, anthemia, foliate, ribbon and drapery detail, over an anthemion-decorated frieze flanked by lion masks, each suspending a chain, above three cupboard doors enclosing a shelved interior, the central panel depicting 'A Domestic Sacrifice', raised on slender tapering legs, decorated throughout with Etruscan marquetry

127cm wide, 60cm deep, 87cm high

The collection of Simon Timothy Blake, Hertfordshire.

This commode, executed in the 'Etruscan' or 'Roman' taste popularised by Robert and James Adam in the 'Works in Architecture', 1779, can be firmly attributed to the Golden Square, London, enterprise of William Ince and John Mayhew.

The lot conforms with a series of attributes identified by Hugh Roberts and Charles Cator in 'Industry and Ingenuity: The Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew', as indicative of the 'house style', and these include the 'innovative…and adventurous use of marquetry', and the choice of form and shape as a semi-elliptical commode (pp. 28-31). Roberts and Cator go on to discuss specific characteristics of the partnership's marquetry vocabulary, which they outline as 'the use of large-scale motifs derived from Antiquity', 'extensive and delicate shading and surface engraving of the inlay' and 'subtle inlaying, differentiated from the ground wood only by the contrast of the natural colour and figure of the inlay', all of which are present in the offered lot (p. 31).

The commode relates closely to a documented group of satinwood and marquetry furniture produced in the 'Etruscan' manner at Badminton, most probably supplied to the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort between 1778 and 1798 (H Roberts and C Cator, 'Industry and Ingenuity', p. 129). The group includes a pair of corner cupboards, a pair of semi-elliptical side tables and an occasional table, each sharing resemblance to the offered lot, however it is the Dowager's semi-elliptical commode, illustrated in 'Industry and Ingenuity', fig. 135-136, and also Lucy Wood's 'Catalogue of Commodes', figs. 221-226, which offers the closest parallel. In terms of construction, the respective pieces share the same horizontal backboards, frieze drawer, canted angles and hinged central door - the reverse of which revealing the same laminated assembly. Differing from the present lot, the Badminton commode is fitted with a pair of deep interior drawers, although these could have been removed at a later date to leave cupboards, as seen in the illustrated lot.

Decoratively, both contain figurative panels from Baron d'Hancarville's publication on Sir William Hamilton's Greek vases, the Badminton example depicting 'Bacchus and Ampelus', whereas the discussed corresponding vase displays 'A Domestic Sacrifice'. This scene is not seen in the Dowager's group but it is present on one of a pair of corner cupboards probably supplied to Archibald Douglas, c.1773, attributed to the firm, and a further pair now in Spencer House, sadly without provenance - see 'Industry and Ingenuity', figs. 259 and 260. The Badminton commode boasts two further figurative scenes for the side panels, whereas the offered lot opts for tripods, a further motif seen in various different guises across commissions by the partnership. Further visual comparison can be drawn when comparing the two tops, which have the same ribbon-tied drapery (another hallmark of the firm's output), a central patera and repeating border. Moreover, the delicately veneered palm-capped legs are identical; for another compatible commode, again with the same palm-capped legs, see Christie's, London, 24 April 2008, 'Thomas Hope & The Neoclassical Vision & The Collector of Collections', lot 380.

Beyond the commode, the wider group at Badminton offers further crossover stylistically, with the pair of corner cupboards (made en suite with a similar commode, the whereabouts currently unknown) having near identical drapery and shading to the doors, and additionally, a similar anthemia frieze. The side tables again have a comparable layout of marquetry to their tops, and the same repeating pearls in a lighter timber to the frieze, as seen on the discussed lot at the apron.

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