Lot Essay
This superb example of early eighteenth century japanning was almost certainly produced for a leading patron entranced by the exotic art of the Orient. Appropriate for the furnishing of a bedroom apartment, it is exotically decorated in the Oriental manner with gold on a glossy black ground, painted or 'japanned' in imitation of lacquer. Accompanying its band of flowered-ribbon guilloche are scenes inspired by those on contemporary Chinese screens and chests combined with vignettes in the Oriental or Chinoiserie style which was promoted by Messrs. Stalker and Parker in A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, 1688. A festive scene with music-playing ladies and garden pavilions is depicted on the secretaire-fall, while more pavilions, figures, exotic birds, insects and flowering shrubs decorate its surface throughout. The interior with fan-bearing figures painted on the inside of the doors, is equipped with red-japanned compartments and pigeonholes in both its secretaire and cabinet sections, and each incorporates drawers around a central pilaster-flanked and mirrored tabernacle compartment. The cabinet's vase capped form with mirrored doors, is conceived in the George I 'Palladian' or Roman manner with its Tuscan arched pediment derived from Serlio's Architettura, 1540.
The Duke of Windsor, Fort Belvedere and York House
It seems likely that this bureau-cabinet entered the Royal Collection at the time of Queen Mary as it does not appear in any of the earlier inventories at Windsor Castle. Queen Mary (d. 1953), married to George V, was an avid collector from the time she ascended the throne in 1910. Her son, Prince Edward, later Duke of Windsor (d. 1972), shared her passion for collecting and the cabinet remained in his collection until the Christie's auction in 1957.
Edward moved into York House, a part of St. James's Palace, in July 1919 and this remained his official residence until he took the throne in 1936. The cabinet may have furnished this London home, and would certainly have been an appropriate addition to his 'Chinese' sitting room.
In 1930, Edward's father, King George V gave him Fort Belvedere, an 18th century house belonging to the crown, just outside Windsor Great Park. Originally built as a folly for the Duke of Cumberland in 1757, and probably designed by Henry Flitcroft, Fort Belvedere was enlarged in 1827-1828 by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville to serve as George IV's 'banqueting house' and home for the Duke of Cumberland's collection of guns. The last Bombardier died there in 1910 and Sir Malcolm Murray, comptroller to the Duke of Connaught, took up residence until the Prince of Wales moved in. The Prince invested £21,000 on repairs, improvements and redecorating his home, adding a swimming pool, tennis court and battlement walk.
The Fort as the Prince called it, gave him a sense of privacy and it was here that he made his home, working in the garden and surrounding woodlands. He entertained a small circle of friends here, shying away from 'high society' and among those invited to these small gatherings was Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson and her then husband. Both York House nd Fort Belvedere were decorated under the guidance of the Prince's longtime friend and confidante, Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward, and with the advise of decorator friends Syrie Maugham and Elsie de Wolfe.
His Royal Highness reigned briefly as King Edward VIII of England upon the death of his father in 1936 (from January 20 until December 10) until he abdicated the throne to marry Mrs. Simpson against the wishes of the Royal family. They spent the following years travelling through Europe, lived in the Bahamas during the war, and settled in Paris from 1945. The Paris homes of the Duke and Duchess at Boulevard Suchet and later the Bois de Boulogne, were decorated by Stephane Boudin from the premier decorating firm of Jansen. Some of the furnishings were brought over from York House and Fort Belveder (including the table where the Instrument of Abdication was signed, illustrated in H.Vickers, The Private World of The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 1995, pp.11-12), and others were newly bought to create a theatrical setting combining English, French and American influences. It seems unlikely that the cabinet was incorporated into these new homes as the cabinet was stored at Buckingham Palace when it was picked up by Christie's at the time the Duke decided to sell some of his effects in 1957.
Merle Oberon
Estelle Merle O'Brien Tompson was born in Bombay in 1911, grew up in Calcutta and later moved to London. In 1931, she met Hungarian-born Alexander Korda who was becoming a dynamic force in the British cinema. He cast her as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Samuel Goldwyn recognized her beauty and talent and featured her in The Dark Angel in 1935, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. In 1938, she won her true fame playing opposite Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights. She married Korda on June 3 in 1939, coincidentally the same day two years after the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were wed. Her husband was knighted by King George VI in 1942, and Sir Alex and Lady Korda rented a manor house in Denham. Their marriage was shortlived (they divorced in 1945) and Oberon moved permanently to a large country estate in Bel-Air, California. She furnished her home with traditional English and French 18th and 19th century antiques (S.Berg, 'Merle Oberon', Architectural Digest, April 1990).
John Belchier
This piece is likely to have been produced in the workshop of John Belchier (d. 1753), cabinet-maker at 'The Sun' in St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Belchier is first recorded working in 1717 supplying 'all sorts of Cabinet Works, Chairs, Glasses, Sconces & Coach-Glasses.' A few examples from his workshop are labelled and significantly, all of his known labelled pieces are bureau-cabinets, all with mirror-inset doors and veneered in walnut or japanned in red with gilt enrichments (see G. Beard and C. Gilbert, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pp. 59-60). Two closely related cabinets with similar decoration attributed to Belchier were supplied to John Meller (d. 1733), Queen Anne's Master in Chancery, for Erddig Castle, Wales. Erddig's cabinets were among its furnishings described in 1732 as being 'in ye grandst manner and after ye newest fashion.' In its 1726 inventory, a 'Red Japan Cabinate' was listed in the 'Blew Mohair' bedroom and this has similar arch-headed and mirrored doors, a cornice enriched with flowered-ribbon guilloche and a similarly fitted bureau on spherical feet. A black japanned bureau-cabinet listed in an adjoining room also has large figures painted inside its mirrored doors. These hold paddle-ended fans corresponding to that belonging to the carriage-borne figure portrayed on this present cabinet's frieze (see M. Drury, 'Early Eighteenth-Century Furniture at Erddig', Apollo, July 1978, pp. 52-53, pl. 11). The doors on this cabinet have been reversed and the interior panels now face outward as the glass plates had been damaged. Belchier worked extensively at Erddig (his bill covering November 1722 to January 1726 amounted to £262 12s). He is also credited with the manufacture of the celebrated Erddig state bed, whose Chinese embroidered textiles may have been presented to Erddig by Elihu Yale. Yale came to live on the estate after his service in India and such textiles, collected while trading on behalf of the East India Company, were among his 1718 gift to the New Haven college in Connecticut which now bears his name (see J. Hardy, 'A State Bed from Erthig', Victoria and Albert Museum Brochure 2, 1972, p. 5).
The Art of Japanning and the Taste for Chinoiserie
After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, trade with the Far East flourished and the importance of Chinese lacquer screens, cabinets and chests with Chinese ornament could not keep up with the high demand. To satisfy this demand, these fine lacquers were imitated by English and Continental cabinetmakers and amateur painters. Young ladies pursued japanning as a pastime. In 1683, Mary Verney's father wrote the eight year old: 'I find you have a desire to learn to japan, as you call it, and I approve.' By 1696, lacquered cabinets had become 'status symbols' for Royalty and members of their inner circle. For example, when inventory was taken at the time of Queen Mary's death, a number of furnishings in the Queen's bedchamber at Kensington Palace were decorated with 'india japan' which displayed her large collection of Oriental porcelain. This court fashion was brought to its height in the early years of the eighteenth century, when this cabinet was produced. The supreme quality of the japanned decoration on this cabinet epitomizes the pinnacle of this craft in the first decades of the eighteenth century. After this period, the craft declined when true Oriental lacquer panels were once again incorporated into English cabinetwork when this fashion was revived in the middle of the eighteenth century. Examples of this later technique can be found in the work of the finest cabinetmakers, such as John Linnell at Badminton House and Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory and Harewood House.
John Stalker and George Parker's A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing (1688) provided instruction and designs for this craft. Using multiple coats of varnish (gum dissolved in wine spirits) mixed with lampblack and thinner, consecutive coats were applied, smoothed and polished to produce the 'black varnished' ground. If applied correctly, the result would be 'as good, as glossy, as beautiful a Black as ever was wrought by and English hand, and to all appearance it was no way inferior to the Indian.' The metals used for the ornamentation were a mixture of 'gold-dust' imported from Germany which 'enjoys a lively bright lustre', English silver dust and powdered golds and coppers. The ornament was painted on raised areas (a paste of whiting, pigment and gum) which was 'cut, scraped and carved' to the design used, or directly onto the varnished surface.
The Duke of Windsor, Fort Belvedere and York House
It seems likely that this bureau-cabinet entered the Royal Collection at the time of Queen Mary as it does not appear in any of the earlier inventories at Windsor Castle. Queen Mary (d. 1953), married to George V, was an avid collector from the time she ascended the throne in 1910. Her son, Prince Edward, later Duke of Windsor (d. 1972), shared her passion for collecting and the cabinet remained in his collection until the Christie's auction in 1957.
Edward moved into York House, a part of St. James's Palace, in July 1919 and this remained his official residence until he took the throne in 1936. The cabinet may have furnished this London home, and would certainly have been an appropriate addition to his 'Chinese' sitting room.
In 1930, Edward's father, King George V gave him Fort Belvedere, an 18th century house belonging to the crown, just outside Windsor Great Park. Originally built as a folly for the Duke of Cumberland in 1757, and probably designed by Henry Flitcroft, Fort Belvedere was enlarged in 1827-1828 by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville to serve as George IV's 'banqueting house' and home for the Duke of Cumberland's collection of guns. The last Bombardier died there in 1910 and Sir Malcolm Murray, comptroller to the Duke of Connaught, took up residence until the Prince of Wales moved in. The Prince invested £21,000 on repairs, improvements and redecorating his home, adding a swimming pool, tennis court and battlement walk.
The Fort as the Prince called it, gave him a sense of privacy and it was here that he made his home, working in the garden and surrounding woodlands. He entertained a small circle of friends here, shying away from 'high society' and among those invited to these small gatherings was Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson and her then husband. Both York House nd Fort Belvedere were decorated under the guidance of the Prince's longtime friend and confidante, Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward, and with the advise of decorator friends Syrie Maugham and Elsie de Wolfe.
His Royal Highness reigned briefly as King Edward VIII of England upon the death of his father in 1936 (from January 20 until December 10) until he abdicated the throne to marry Mrs. Simpson against the wishes of the Royal family. They spent the following years travelling through Europe, lived in the Bahamas during the war, and settled in Paris from 1945. The Paris homes of the Duke and Duchess at Boulevard Suchet and later the Bois de Boulogne, were decorated by Stephane Boudin from the premier decorating firm of Jansen. Some of the furnishings were brought over from York House and Fort Belveder (including the table where the Instrument of Abdication was signed, illustrated in H.Vickers, The Private World of The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 1995, pp.11-12), and others were newly bought to create a theatrical setting combining English, French and American influences. It seems unlikely that the cabinet was incorporated into these new homes as the cabinet was stored at Buckingham Palace when it was picked up by Christie's at the time the Duke decided to sell some of his effects in 1957.
Merle Oberon
Estelle Merle O'Brien Tompson was born in Bombay in 1911, grew up in Calcutta and later moved to London. In 1931, she met Hungarian-born Alexander Korda who was becoming a dynamic force in the British cinema. He cast her as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Samuel Goldwyn recognized her beauty and talent and featured her in The Dark Angel in 1935, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. In 1938, she won her true fame playing opposite Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights. She married Korda on June 3 in 1939, coincidentally the same day two years after the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were wed. Her husband was knighted by King George VI in 1942, and Sir Alex and Lady Korda rented a manor house in Denham. Their marriage was shortlived (they divorced in 1945) and Oberon moved permanently to a large country estate in Bel-Air, California. She furnished her home with traditional English and French 18th and 19th century antiques (S.Berg, 'Merle Oberon', Architectural Digest, April 1990).
John Belchier
This piece is likely to have been produced in the workshop of John Belchier (d. 1753), cabinet-maker at 'The Sun' in St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Belchier is first recorded working in 1717 supplying 'all sorts of Cabinet Works, Chairs, Glasses, Sconces & Coach-Glasses.' A few examples from his workshop are labelled and significantly, all of his known labelled pieces are bureau-cabinets, all with mirror-inset doors and veneered in walnut or japanned in red with gilt enrichments (see G. Beard and C. Gilbert, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pp. 59-60). Two closely related cabinets with similar decoration attributed to Belchier were supplied to John Meller (d. 1733), Queen Anne's Master in Chancery, for Erddig Castle, Wales. Erddig's cabinets were among its furnishings described in 1732 as being 'in ye grandst manner and after ye newest fashion.' In its 1726 inventory, a 'Red Japan Cabinate' was listed in the 'Blew Mohair' bedroom and this has similar arch-headed and mirrored doors, a cornice enriched with flowered-ribbon guilloche and a similarly fitted bureau on spherical feet. A black japanned bureau-cabinet listed in an adjoining room also has large figures painted inside its mirrored doors. These hold paddle-ended fans corresponding to that belonging to the carriage-borne figure portrayed on this present cabinet's frieze (see M. Drury, 'Early Eighteenth-Century Furniture at Erddig', Apollo, July 1978, pp. 52-53, pl. 11). The doors on this cabinet have been reversed and the interior panels now face outward as the glass plates had been damaged. Belchier worked extensively at Erddig (his bill covering November 1722 to January 1726 amounted to £262 12s). He is also credited with the manufacture of the celebrated Erddig state bed, whose Chinese embroidered textiles may have been presented to Erddig by Elihu Yale. Yale came to live on the estate after his service in India and such textiles, collected while trading on behalf of the East India Company, were among his 1718 gift to the New Haven college in Connecticut which now bears his name (see J. Hardy, 'A State Bed from Erthig', Victoria and Albert Museum Brochure 2, 1972, p. 5).
The Art of Japanning and the Taste for Chinoiserie
After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, trade with the Far East flourished and the importance of Chinese lacquer screens, cabinets and chests with Chinese ornament could not keep up with the high demand. To satisfy this demand, these fine lacquers were imitated by English and Continental cabinetmakers and amateur painters. Young ladies pursued japanning as a pastime. In 1683, Mary Verney's father wrote the eight year old: 'I find you have a desire to learn to japan, as you call it, and I approve.' By 1696, lacquered cabinets had become 'status symbols' for Royalty and members of their inner circle. For example, when inventory was taken at the time of Queen Mary's death, a number of furnishings in the Queen's bedchamber at Kensington Palace were decorated with 'india japan' which displayed her large collection of Oriental porcelain. This court fashion was brought to its height in the early years of the eighteenth century, when this cabinet was produced. The supreme quality of the japanned decoration on this cabinet epitomizes the pinnacle of this craft in the first decades of the eighteenth century. After this period, the craft declined when true Oriental lacquer panels were once again incorporated into English cabinetwork when this fashion was revived in the middle of the eighteenth century. Examples of this later technique can be found in the work of the finest cabinetmakers, such as John Linnell at Badminton House and Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory and Harewood House.
John Stalker and George Parker's A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing (1688) provided instruction and designs for this craft. Using multiple coats of varnish (gum dissolved in wine spirits) mixed with lampblack and thinner, consecutive coats were applied, smoothed and polished to produce the 'black varnished' ground. If applied correctly, the result would be 'as good, as glossy, as beautiful a Black as ever was wrought by and English hand, and to all appearance it was no way inferior to the Indian.' The metals used for the ornamentation were a mixture of 'gold-dust' imported from Germany which 'enjoys a lively bright lustre', English silver dust and powdered golds and coppers. The ornament was painted on raised areas (a paste of whiting, pigment and gum) which was 'cut, scraped and carved' to the design used, or directly onto the varnished surface.