GEORGE III MAHOGANY SERPENTINE CHEST OF DRAWERS, ATTRIBUTED TO JAMES BLAIKIE
CIRCA 1769
£10,710
Auction: Select Property from Penicuik House, Midlothian - 27th March 2024 at 10am
Description
the serpentine top with a carved foliate gadrooned edge over two short and three long graduated drawers outlined with cockbeading, flanked by angles carved with trailing vines and berries and headed by acanthus scrolls, above leaf-tip carved base moulding and raised on gadrooned and C-scroll carved ogee bracket feet
Dimensions
119cm wide, 87cm high, 60cm deep
Provenance
Sir James Clerk, 3rd Baronet of Penicuik (1709 – 1782), Penicuik House, Midlothian. Thence by descent
Footnote
Note: One of two chests of drawers supplied by James Blaikie to Penicuik House in 1769, and listed as a ‘half-Chest' in Sir James' journal. Blaikie, as the principle carpenter on the development of the Penicuik interiors and furniture, would have acted as agent and had the chest made by an Edinburgh cabinetmaker to his specifications. The two chests of drawers supplied came with a combined bill of £4 10s and are heavily influenced by designs from Chippendale's Director. This example, slightly squatter than its counterpart, lot 60, is embellished with rich carving to its edge moulding and angles, and sits on pronounced C-scroll carved ogee bracket feet, and is similar to chests made by the London cabinetmaker William Gomm. Frustratingly, the names of these craftsmen don't appear in the journal of Sir James.