Lot 365: A REGENCY EBONISED-INLAID OAK BREAKFRONT BOOKCASE

Possibly by George Bullock The rectangular cavetto cornice above a plain frieze and a central section for adjustable shelves, flanked on each side by a trellis-panelled doors, one enclosing four later drawers, one enclosing three later drawers, each with two original shelves, above a later marble shelf, above four panelled doors, the central breakfront section containing two removable shelves, the sides each with four graduated drawers, on a plinth base, the original locks stamped 'I.BRAMAH PATENT' beneath a Crown, the third right-hand drawer of the plinth section with a patch to the carcass 97 in. (246 cm.) high; 971/4 in. (247 cm.) wide; 22 in. (56 cm.) deep PROVENANCE Almost certainly supplied to Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837) for Longleat, Wiltshire and by descent at Longleat. LITERATURE 1837 Inventory, p. 10 In Gallery, 'Oak Chest of Drawers and Book Case'. 1852 Inventory, p. 10 In Gallery, 'Oak Chest of Drawers and Book Case'. 1869 Inventory, First Floor North and East Corridor, 'A winged oak Bookcase with marble slab'. 1896 Inventory (2nd Marquess' Heirlooms), f 104 r Small Lobby Ground Floor, 'An oak open bookcase with mahogany mouldings, four open shelves, two cupboards at sides with silk and wire panelled doors, three cupboards under with four panelled doors, dove marble slab'. NOTES The bookcase, with golden trellis-grilled cabinet and marble-topped commode, has pilasters embellished with black bas-relief paterae and ribbon-inlaid tablets. It is conceived in the French/Grecian manner promoted around 1800 by George, Prince of Wales and by the connoisseur, Thomas Hope (d. 1831). Its manufacture in patriotic British oak reflects the antiquarian taste appropriate to Longleat's Elizabethan architecture. The cupboards are fitted with Bramah patent locks, the patent having been granted in 1784 and extended in 1798 for a further fourteen years. This style of furniture was a speciality of George Bullock (d. 1818) who opened his celebrated London show rooms in Piccadilly's 'Egyptian Hall' in 1812 and was commissioned in 1815 to manufacture related furniture for the St. Helena residence occupied by Napoleon (C. Wainwright et al., George Bullock and his Circle, London, 1988, no. 19 and M. Levy, 'Napoleon in Exile', Furniture History, 1998, pp. 49 and 53, figs. 36, 37 and 38). As an alternative to George Bullock, the St. Paul's Church Yard cabinet-maker, George Oakley may also be a possibility as he supplied a suite of oak seat furniture to the 2nd Marquess of Bath in 1812, his bill of 1813 amounting to œ295 5. 6 d (see lot 361). Whilst the bookcase is very much in the style of George Bullock, his early death in 1818 certainly resulted in Messrs. Morant manufacturing furniture for Mathew Robinson Boulton at Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire in his signature style (see the bookcase sold anonymously at Bonhams, London, 9 April 2002, lot 129).