Provenance:
Mallett Ltd., London (with memorandum)

Note:
This secrétaire, with its elegant, restrained Neoclassical marquetry occupies a rare, if not unique position in Chippendale’s oeuvre. Not only is it directly based on a French secrétaire à abattant, a form seldom seen in English furniture, it is one of a pair which were presumably supplied to an unknown patron. Although French furniture designs had been an enduring source of inspiration for English cabinet-makers, so much so their drawings became known as the 'French Taste’, few were copied directly and were almost always the work of French trained émigirés such as Pierre Langlois (1718-1767) or Christopher Furlohg (1740-1787).

This secrétaire and its pair are part of a distinct group of closely related secrétaires attributed to Thomas Chippendale. Unlike most of his ‘French’ furniture, they are the rare occasion where a distinctly French form is kept intact and used as a backdrop for Chippendale’s creativity and ingenuity. Their prototype were the two secrétaires supplied to Edwin Lascelles for two rooms in the State Apartments at Harewood House, Yorkshire from 1772-1773 and are the richest examples of this form. One, now in the collection of Temple Newsam, Leeds, was part of a suite of black lacquer and japanned furniture for the State Bedroom. It appears on Chippendale’s 12 November 1773 invoice as ‘a Lady’s Secretary veneer’d with your own Japann with additions of Carved Ornaments…the front of the secretary to rise with balance weights.’ The second, inlaid with marquetry against a satinwood ground, was supplied to the State Dressing Room and remains at Harewood (J. Sellers, ed., The Art of Thomas Chippendale, Master Furniture Maker, Leeds, 2000, p. 30).

Chippendale’s mention of the secretary’s balance weight mechanism is particularly relevant as it was his own invention and allowed for the seamless rising and falling of the fall front. Hidden within the construction of the case, it allowed the writing surface to appear as if it was suspended in the air with no distracting brackets. This secrétaire as well as the others in the group have this unique feature. Other constructional hallmarks of Chippendale’s workshop are the hardware used on the drawers whose construction bears the typical finely executed details such as the mitered corners to the undersides, the triangular stoppers to the interior of the carcass for the drawers and the distinctive red wash visible in areas on the case.

In addition to the present lot’s pair, which was sold anonymously at Sotheby’s, London, 16 December 1990, lot 345 (£35,200 including premium), the other secrétaires of this group display only minor variations. They have the same richly figured satinwood ground, Neoclassical marquetry central medallions punctuated by rosettes in the incurved corners, a single lower door and apparently identical interiors. They comprise:

(1) A virtually identical example with square tapering legs from Lady Frye, Oare House, Wiltshire sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 1966, lot 68 and most recently sold from the collection of Zeinab and Pierre Marcie Riviere, Christie’s, Paris, 8 June 2016, lot 185 ($50,065 including premium).
(2) Another with ebonized pilasters and square tapering legs supplied to William Windham (1708-1789) for Earsham Hall, Norfolk (Ronald Phillips, The Legacy of Thomas Chippendale, Exhibition Catalogue, 2018, no. 19, pp. 89-93).
(3) One with marquetry fan medallions and identical legs to the present lot sold anonymously (Property of a Lady) at Christie’s, New York, 20 January 1996, lot 335 ($34,500 including premium).