Lot 117
SCOTTISH GEORGE III MAHOGANY BUREAU CABINET, POSSIBLY THE WORKSHOP OF ALEXANDER PETER
CIRCA 1760
Auction: Day One | Wed 12th Nov at 10am | Lots 1 to 338
Description
the pierced fretwork scrolled swan neck pediment with flower head terminals, and surmounted by a gilt eagle, above a dentil moulded and blind fretwork carved frieze, over a pair of glazed with elliptical moulded, enclosing shelves and drawers; the cross-banded sloping front opening to an interior fitted with a cupboard door, pigeonholes, drawers, and secret compartments, the base with two short and three graduated drawers with ho-ho bird handles, flanked by fluted quarter columns, raised on gadrooned ogee bracket feet
Dimensions
127cm wide, 264cm high, 60cm deep
Provenance
Previously from Kinross House
Probably supplied to Sir James William Montgomery (1721-1803), Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer 1775-1801, created 1st Baron Stanhope, 1801, for Queensbery House, Edinburgh; subsequently at Whim, or Stobo Castle, Peebleshire and thence by descent to
Sir Basil Montgomery, 5th Bt. (1852-1928), at Stobo Castle until 1902, when removed to Kinross House and thence by descent.
Footnote
Alexander Peter of Edinburgh was among the leading cabinet-makers in Georgian Scotland, his reputation matched only by contemporaries Francis Brodie and his former apprentice, William Mathie. From at least 1752, Peter operated from premises in the Horse Wynd off the Cowgate, where he also resided above his shop. Peter’s workshop furnished many distinguished houses, most notably Dumfries House in Ayrshire, where his furniture stands alongside those made by Thomas Chippendale for the Earl of Dumfries. His clientele included many prominent figures of the Scottish elite, among them the Earl and Countess of Hopetoun, the Earl of Lauderdale, Robert Dundas of Arniston, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, the Earl and Countess of Cassillis, and the Duke of Gordon.