A PAIR OF GEORGE III SYCAMORE-INLAID AND EBONY-BANDED MAHOGANY SERPENTINE COMMODES

CIRCA 1775, POSSIBLY BY INCE & MAYHEW

Details

The shaped tops each with deep crossbanding and spot-inlaid edges, one chest with four graduated long drawers, the other with a deep top drawer faced as two drawers and two further graduated drawers, both on slender tapering square legs, repairs and replacements to feet
36 in. (91.5 cm.) high; 48 1/2 in. (123 cm.) wide; 24 1/2 in. (62 cm.) deep
Provenance

Almost certainly supplied to Henry, 2nd Earl Bathurst (1714-1794) for Apsley House, London or Cirencester House, Gloucestershire and by descent in the collection of the Earls Bathurst;
Gloria: Property from the late Dowager Countess Bathurst; Christie's, London, 22 July 2020, lot 26.
Lot Essay

These stylish commodes, with their graceful serpentine form and superb flame mahogany veneers inlaid with contrasting sycamore and ebony, are a testament to the decorative language of the Neo-classical spirit of the late 18th century. They were possibly made by the London cabinet-making firm of Ince & Mayhew. The distinctive spot-inlaid edging of the shaped tops of these commodes is found on several pieces with strong attributions to the firm, notably a pair of rosewood and marquetry bow-fronted commodes, circa 1780, attributed to Ince & Mayhew, which formed part of the commission for the 4th Duke of Marlborough for either Marlborough House, London, or Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, subsequently sold Christie's, London, 25 May 1972, lot 89 (H. Roberts, ‘Nicely Fitted Up’: Furniture for the 4th Duke of Marlborough’, Furniture History, vol. 30, 1994, p. 139, fig. 29). The same border is also found on a group of furniture from Badminton House, Gloucestershire, which is attributed to the firm based on large payments made between 1778 and 1798 by the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort; this commission includes a pair of side tables and a small oval-topped table (L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, pp. 230-231, figs. 217, 218-219).
The distinctive gilt-metal drawer handles are also found on another commode in this group of furniture possibly made by Ince & Mayhew (lot 28). Similar patterns are included in metal-work pattern books of the period suggesting it was a popular and widespread pattern (N. Goodison, ‘The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Collection of Metal-work Pattern Books’, Furniture History, vol. 11, 1975, no. 23, and T.R. Crom, An Eighteenth Century English Brass Hardware Catalogue, Gainesville, 1995, p. 89, fig. 595, p. 112, figs. 800-802).