JESSIE BAYES (1878-1971)

Jessie Bayes was born into a talented family of artists. Her father, Alfred Walter Bayes, was a prominent painter and printmaker in the 19th century. Her three siblings, a sister and two brothers, worked in a variety of mediums - Emmeline, the eldest, was skilled in wood carving, silver work and enamelling; Walter John was a painter and illustrator; and Gilbert William, was a sculptor and designer. Jessie herself was the youngest, and was known for her miniature paintings, gesso and gilding, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, and wood carving.

The present cabinet represents the fusion of her talents along with those who assisted: her sister, Emmeline, Kathleen Figgis, a portrait and still life painter, and Frederic Stuttig, a woodcarver and gilder. The gilt and painted gesso on wood is finely decorated with scenes and quotes from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, a luminary from medieval times for artists of the Arts and Crafts movement. The wood is delicately carved with Celtic motifs as is the intricately pierced silvered metal lock plate, accentuated by semi-precious jewels. The interior reveals compartments with elegant silk lining.

The cabinet debuted in 1912 at the Tenth Exhibition of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society held at in The Grosvenor Gallery, London. The exhibition was held from November 1912 to January 1913. The cabinet was well-received and noted as "the most remarkable of several examples of gilt and decorated furniture" from the exhibition (The Studio, vol. 57, no. 238, Jan.1913). In 1972, the cabinet came to market at Christie's London where it proceeded to change hands until it found its home in the Gettys' collection in 1996. It was exhibited at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco, California for the show Truth & Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters from June through September 2018. Once again, the 'Bayes' cabinet enters the public eye and offers collectors a chance to obtain this unique masterpiece of craftsmanship.