THE DEAN OF ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL CABINET, English, circa 1755
Height: 7 ft 10½ in; 240 cm
Width: 4 ft 2½ in; 128.5 cm
Depth: 1 ft 10½ in; 57 cm
Width: 4 ft 2½ in; 128.5 cm
Depth: 1 ft 10½ in; 57 cm
44F32831
£100,000 +
Further images
A George II mahogany cabinet in the manner of William Hallett. Note: The cabinet had at one stage upright divisions, perhaps forming large pigeon-holes to serve as a filing cabinet....
A George II mahogany cabinet in the manner of William Hallett.
Note: The cabinet had at one stage upright divisions, perhaps forming large pigeon-holes to serve as a filing cabinet. It is now fitted with three adjustable shelves, the lower part with two original trays, with space for a third. The ogee bracket feet have been tipped to their original height.
The inside of both top doors is incised with crossed swords, the arms of the See of London, centred by the letter D, for Dean of the Chapter.
The fine carvings on the cabinet relate to similar carvings ascribed to the workshop of William Vile, in particular a small side cabinet at Longford Castle, Wiltshire. The unusual triangular pediment reflects the shape of the portico of the west entrance of the old St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Provenance
The Deans of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England;
C. J. Pratt Ltd., London, England.
Literature
Literature:
Ralph Edwards and Margaret Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet Makers, 3rd revised edn., 1955, p. 151, fig. 61.
Anthony Coleridge, ‘A reappraisal of William Hallett’, Furniture History, 1965, pl. 1; a cabinet inscribed in pencil ‘William Hallett/1763 Long Acre’, formerly at Halswell Park, Somerset.
Illustrated:
Connoisseur, June 1951, p. 7; advertisement with C. J. Pratt Ltd.
