Live Auction 7439Important English Furniture
A REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND EBONISED CELLARET
Lot 707

A REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND EBONISED CELLARET

EARLY 19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF SIR JOHN SOANE

Closed22 November 2007

Price Realised

GBP 11,250

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A REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND EBONISED CELLARET
EARLY 19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF SIR JOHN SOANE
Of sarcophagus form, the domed hinged lid with acroteria at each corner and a lion-mask handle at the front, enclosing a green baize-lined interior with bottle-divisions, the front with ram's head masks on the angles, joined by a ribbon-tied swag of husks centred by a rosette, on a stepped plinth with fluted block feet with sunk metal anti-friction castors, the decoration refreshed
23 in. (59 cm.) high; 27 in. (69 cm.) wide; 18 in. (46 cm.) deep

Specialist note

This sarcophagus wine-cellaret is conceived in the manner of a Grecian cippus altar. The unusual combination of palm-flowered acroteria guarding a triumphal domed canopy relates to designs by the distinguished architect Sir John Soane (1753-1847), such as the roof of the De Loutherbourg Tomb, at St. Nicholas's Churchyard, Chiswick which has acroteria flanking a domed pediment (illustrated in P. Dean. Sir John Soane and London, Hampshire, 2006, pp. 148 and 177). The same motif also features as part of the domed canopy which is the cresting to the Mausoleum of Sir Francis Bourgeois (1756-1811) and Noel Desenfans (1744-1807) at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, 1811-12.
A nearly identical cellaret was sold anonymously, Sotheby's, London, 12 February 1999, lot 149. Another closely related example was offered anonymously, Christie's, New York, 19 June 1987, lot 189.