Commode
1740-1746 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
The top of the chest is hinged and retains its original mahogany supporting arm. The front opens to reveal two drawers, with their original handles. The chest has been used extensively, probably to store clothes in a bedroom or dressing room. In August 1740, Lady Elizabeth Smithson described a 'large Mahogany Chest lind with Green Bays for My Cloathes', standing on one side of her bedchamber at Stanwick, Yorkshire.
Materials & Design
The carcase of the chest is pine. It is veneered on the lid, front and sides with high quality mahogany and the carved elements are in solid mahogany. The five pedestals support the heads of putti and are carved with acanthus foliage and an overlapping guilloche pattern. They are rest on plinths carved with paterae. Between the plinths there are carved C-scroll brackets, their spandrels carved with a diaper pattern. Above the pedestals is a shallow frieze with a floral Greek key pattern.
People
In the early 1740s, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, commissioned the architect Henry Flitcroft to recreate the interiors at St Giles's House, Wimborne, Dorset. The house had been built in the 1650s and Flitcroft redesigned the state dining room, the Tapestry Room and the White Hall. A visitor in 1754 noted that they were 'finished in a very elegant manner'. Flitcroft was also involved with the decoration of Lord Shaftesbury's London house in Grosvenor Square. This handsome chest may have been supplied for use in London or at St Giles's.
The top of the chest is hinged and retains its original mahogany supporting arm. The front opens to reveal two drawers, with their original handles. The chest has been used extensively, probably to store clothes in a bedroom or dressing room. In August 1740, Lady Elizabeth Smithson described a 'large Mahogany Chest lind with Green Bays for My Cloathes', standing on one side of her bedchamber at Stanwick, Yorkshire.
Materials & Design
The carcase of the chest is pine. It is veneered on the lid, front and sides with high quality mahogany and the carved elements are in solid mahogany. The five pedestals support the heads of putti and are carved with acanthus foliage and an overlapping guilloche pattern. They are rest on plinths carved with paterae. Between the plinths there are carved C-scroll brackets, their spandrels carved with a diaper pattern. Above the pedestals is a shallow frieze with a floral Greek key pattern.
People
In the early 1740s, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, commissioned the architect Henry Flitcroft to recreate the interiors at St Giles's House, Wimborne, Dorset. The house had been built in the 1650s and Flitcroft redesigned the state dining room, the Tapestry Room and the White Hall. A visitor in 1754 noted that they were 'finished in a very elegant manner'. Flitcroft was also involved with the decoration of Lord Shaftesbury's London house in Grosvenor Square. This handsome chest may have been supplied for use in London or at St Giles's.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Mahogany commode, London, 1740-1746, probably designed by Henry Flitcroft, made by William Hallett, and possibly carved by John Boson |
| Physical description | Rectangular commode with hinged top, two cupboard doors open to reveal two long drawers; there is no drawer in the upper part as this forms a chest accessible when the top is lifted. Below the top is a frieze of five petalled flowers, supported on seven trusses each terminating above in a cherub head. The upper part of each truss carved with an acanthus leaf, the lower with overlapping scales. The rectangular panel enclosed by each pair of trusses is veneered with figured mahogany, the central oval area being enclosed by a moulding with a carved composition of rococo scrolls above and below and at each side. Each truss rests on a square base; the angles formed between the bottom of the cupboard at the bases of the trusses are filled by carved c scroll brackets. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
This Palladian design for a commode was made in many variations. The heavy shape is divided by narrow scrolling pedestals based on ancient Roman term figures with carved heads. The oval panels are not Palladian and suggest that in the 1740s, when the commode was made, the influence of the new Rococo style was just coming in.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch |
| Object history | Made for the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (1711-1771), possibly for his London house. Possibly designed by Henry Flitcroft (born in Hampstead, London,1697, died in London,1769) and made in the London workshops of William Hallett (about 1707-1781); the heads possibly carved by John Boson (active 1720 - after1743) |
| Summary | Object Type The top of the chest is hinged and retains its original mahogany supporting arm. The front opens to reveal two drawers, with their original handles. The chest has been used extensively, probably to store clothes in a bedroom or dressing room. In August 1740, Lady Elizabeth Smithson described a 'large Mahogany Chest lind with Green Bays for My Cloathes', standing on one side of her bedchamber at Stanwick, Yorkshire. Materials & Design The carcase of the chest is pine. It is veneered on the lid, front and sides with high quality mahogany and the carved elements are in solid mahogany. The five pedestals support the heads of putti and are carved with acanthus foliage and an overlapping guilloche pattern. They are rest on plinths carved with paterae. Between the plinths there are carved C-scroll brackets, their spandrels carved with a diaper pattern. Above the pedestals is a shallow frieze with a floral Greek key pattern. People In the early 1740s, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, commissioned the architect Henry Flitcroft to recreate the interiors at St Giles's House, Wimborne, Dorset. The house had been built in the 1650s and Flitcroft redesigned the state dining room, the Tapestry Room and the White Hall. A visitor in 1754 noted that they were 'finished in a very elegant manner'. Flitcroft was also involved with the decoration of Lord Shaftesbury's London house in Grosvenor Square. This handsome chest may have been supplied for use in London or at St Giles's. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.74:1 to 4-1962 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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