CIRCLE OF GODFREY SYKES (1824-1866) AND JAMES GAMBLE (1875-before 1910) RENAISSANCE REVIVAL CABINET- oak and elm, decorated with penwork, of architectural form, the doors to the front cupboard painted in black with putti, one titled ‘PAINTING’, the other ‘SCULPTURE’, the side doors with monogram ‘SA’ entwined with the national plants of Great Britain & Ireland, and surrounded by a laurel wreath, the whole decorated with bands of neo-renaissance ornament in red and black

(115cm wide, 122.5cm high, 57cm deep)

Note: The style of the cabinet is unusual within the context of British cabinet making, in that it is painted in a neo-renaissance manner, in red and black on light wood. This is a feature that was also employed on a piano designed by James Gamble and made for Henry Cole, now in the collection of the V&A in London.Despite the current lack of documentary or photographic evidence, it is considered more than likely that this cabinet formed part of the original furnishings of the Victoria & Albert Museum and that the entwined ‘SA’ monogram stands for 'Science and Art' – a feature repeated several times on the West staircase of the V&A building. The staircase was designed by Francis Wollaston Moody, a member of the Museum’s design studio, who was notably influenced by Geoffrey Sykes who had been the first decorative designer of the Museum.