Mahogany bureau bookcase cabinet, English, circa. 1761. Attributed to George Speer, (1736-1802).

Bureau bookcase, English, circa. 1761, mahogany. Attributed to George Speer, (1736-1802).

Mahogany bureau bookcase in three sections. The pediment has swan-neck scrolls terminating with flowers, and a central platform to support a bust. The underside of the pediment has a carved running ornament. The middle section features two doors glazed with rectangular, pentagonal and hexagonal shaped panes of glass, which are probably original. There are grooves for the shelves, but the shelves were ill-fitting replacements and have been removed.

The lower section has a fall-front writing slope, with replacement hinges, which has a writing surface of wood, with no baize. The interior contains a nest of drawers. There is a central locking door and four letter racks. Below the writing slope there are two lopers and five drawers, two short and three longer drawers, all with replacement brass handles and lock-plates.

Damage: In the middle section there are two cracked panes of glass, one is in the small rectangular pane on the right-hand door next to the lock-plate and the second is in the hexagonal panel in the left-hand door. On the drawers there is evidence of previous handles and lock-plates. There are scuff marks, dents and scratches on all five drawers. There is a chip missing on the second from bottom drawer and dents to the ribbed trim on the fourth drawer.

Given by Miss D. Watson in memory of her mother, Virginia Watson, and of her brother, John Nicholas Watson.

Miss Diana Watson, the donor of this bureau, expressed a desire to give a piece of furniture to the Museum in memory of her mother and her brother, Virginia Watson and John Nicholas Watson. After consultation the Museum purchased this bureau bookcase at a sale at Sotheby’s, 1 February 1980, Lot 128, for £2,600. The Sotheby's catalogue described the bookcase as ‘An Early George III mahogany bureau bookcase by George Speer, dated 1761, the upper part with a swan-neck pediment faced with flowers above a pair of thirteen-panelled glazed doors, the lower part with a flap enclosed a fitted interior above two short and two long drawers, on bracket feet, 7ft. 6in. high by 3ft. 5in. wide (229cm. by 104cm.)'

The vendor, Mrs P. Richardson, had bought the bureau bookcase in 1932 from T.L. White, 'Dealer in old English and Foreign Furniture, China & C', 59 Mason’s Hill, Bromley, Kent. The Sotheby's cataloguer was shown a letter from George Speer dated 1761, in which he stated that he had made the cabinet. The letter remained in the possession of Mrs Richardson. When contacted by the museum, Mrs Richardson sent her original receipt, which is listed the item as ‘Made by George Speers…London Sept. 30th 1761 (Bureau-bookcase)’. No inscription can be found on the piece so this attribution was presumably based on a surviving bill or similar written evidence which may have since been lost.

George Speer (1736-1802) was not well-known in 1932 so the documentary proof may well have existed. His trade-card was published by Ambrose Heal in 1953. Designs by Speer reproduced in an article by Anthony Coleridge in Apollo, October 1970, suggest that the attribution is correct. Little is yet known about George Speer. He does not appear in London Directories until 1777. His trade card states that he made and sold 'Desks and Book Cases, Chests of Drawers, Poureaus & all sorts of Looking Glass frames. Also Venetian, Spring & all other sorts of Window Blinds, Mahogany, Walnut-tree & other Chairs Breakfast, Dining & Card Tables, Tea Chests, Tea Boards, Waiters &c'. He also sold carpeting and floor cloth, appraised goods and undertook funerals.

A bureau bookcase consists of a bureau surmounted by a bookcase with glazed or panelled doors. The hinged flap folds down, resting on wooden supports, or lopers, to form a writing surface. This example is significant because, unusually, it has a history connecting it to a particular cabinet maker. A letter once kept with the bureau bookcase indicated that it was made by George Speer, (1736-1802), a London cabinet-maker whose trade card suggested that he specialised in making desks and bookcases.

This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall.

W.6-1980