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 "A’ Tortoise-shell' Bureau Bookcase open") |
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A' Tortoise-shell' Bureau Bookcase
A very fine William & Mary period field maple bureau bookcase which has been stained to resemble tortoise-shell. The double domed top having domes on the returns and two paneled doors with brass line inlay and yew wood cross-banding. The doors opening to reveal a particularly detailed interior with concave fronted drawers, pigeon-holes and shelves.
Below, the fall, which also has brass line inlay and yew wood cross-banding, opens to reveal a similarly well detailed interior with a leather writing surface. Below the fall are two short and two long drawers with the same inlay and cross-banding. The bookcase standing on bun feet. English Circa 1695 Attribution: Coxed & Wooster. At the White Swan, against the south gate in St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Several other contemporary bureaux with this combination of field maple and metal inlay are known. This treatment is so distinctive that all these pieces must be assigned to Coxed and Woster.
Provenance. Barrington Court, Somerset. Exhibited at the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 1988. Illustrated in the handbook. Reference: The Art of the Cabinet. M. Riccardi-Cubitt, plate 61, pg 108, pg 129  |