Mahogany Bureau Cabinet after Thomas Chippendale

This extraordinary Irish bureau cabinet was crafted based on a design for a desk and bookcase drawn from Thomas Chippendale’s famed 1762 edition of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director. Chippendale’s revolutionary designs came to define the Georgian style, and this mahogany George II cabinet is exquisitely adorned with carved acanthus leaves, cartouches and billowing bows. Behind the later mirror plate, three interior shelves offer ample storage. Conservative, yet imposing, Chippendale's innovative furniture reflected the English return to a more neoclassical sensibility. He was the first craftsman to boast such a strong following that an entire style bears his name and not that of a monarch.

Furthered distinguished by prestigious provenance, the exceptional mahogany creation was once owned by Sir Gordon White, Baron White of Hull. The magnate was a Royal Air Force pilot during the Second World War, and served as the co-founder of British multinational corporation Hanson Trust. His business endeavors amassed the Baron an expansive wealth, and he is remembered for his lasting legacy on British corporate acquisition and economy.

The son of a Yorkshire cabinetmaker, Chippendale quickly excelled in the family business. By the age of 36, he owned a series of workshops throughout England and an expansive timber yard for harvesting the finest woods. In 1754, Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker's Director, considered the “bible” of furniture design of its day. The book contained over 161 plates with an astounding range of furniture in the Gothic, Chinese and Rococo styles. Subsequent publications of the text throughout Europe and North America included many neoclassical designs, serving to propel Chippendale into the international spotlight. Soon, this modest craftsman counted among his distinguished clientele countless members of nobility and society.

P.J. Walsh & Sons operated from around 1870 to 1922, and counted wealthy elites and nobility among their clients. More than a cabinetmaker, P. J. Walsh also served as an upholsterer, auctioneer and furniture dealer. This bureau cabinet bears their label, indicating they restored and sold the item during their illustrious tenure in Dublin’s furniture market. Throughout the 1890s, the firm was the primary furniture supplied to Edward Guinness, the first Earl of Iveagh, and a mahogany pedestal table bearing their label is housed in the Iveagh Bequest at Kentwood House, Hampstead.

Circa 1770

Drawers marked with label “P. J. WALSH & SONS Cabinetmakers, Upholsterers, Auctioneers, Valuators, and Undertakers, Warehouse and Showrooms 20 Bachelor's Walk, Dublin Valuations and Funerals particularly attended to and conducted with respectability & economy”

92" high x 48” wide x 22 1/4" deep

Literature:
Thomas Chippendale, Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director, Third Edition, 1762, plate CVIII.

Provenance:
Sale, Sotheby's New York, 7 April 1990, lot 111
Private Collection of Sir Gordon White, Baron White of Hull (1923-1995)
Sale, Christie's, New York, 22 April 1999, lot 154
Sale, Bloomsbury Auctions, New York, 23 March 2010, lot 57
Private Collection, New York
M.S. Rau, New Orleans