A WILLIAM AND MARY BRASS-MOUNTED BLACK AND GILT JAPANNED CABINET-ON-STAND

The cabinet on stand is japanned in imitation of valuable Chinese lacquer wares as promoted by Messrs Stalker and Parker's Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, 1688. It relates closely to other similar cabinets on stand including one illustrated in C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, vol. I, Leeds, 1978, no. 35, and another formerly in the collection of the Earl of Morley, now the National Trust, at Saltram, Devon (A. Bowett, English Furniture 1660-1714 From Charles II to Queen Anne, Woodbridge, 2002, pl. 5:33). The stand on both examples have much in common; with six legs of pierced, rectangular baluster form, suggesting the design derives from the same printed source or even that they were made by the same craftsman. The stand on the present cabinet also has a very similar form with elements of carving and design related to tables completed by Jensen, Court cabinetmaker to both Queen Anne and William and Mary, for St James’ and Kensington Palace (ibid pp. 149 and 283).

Other examples often have an ornate cresting, relating to the stand, as seen in Christie's, London, 19 May 2016, lot 7 (£37,500 including premium). This example, like the present lot, retained original silvered decoration.