PROBABLY PONTYPOOL AND SUPPLIED BY JOHN AND FREDERICK CRACE, CIRCA 1810

This remarkable japanned tinware side cabinet is attributable to the Royal decorator and designer Frederick Crace (1779-1859), who worked alongside his father John (1754-1819) on decorative schemes for the Prince of Wales, later George IV, at Carlton House and later Brighton Pavilion.

PONTYPOOL AND DOMESTIC TINWARE
Yvonne Jones succinctly defines tinplate working and the japanning trade in Japanned Papier Mache and Tinware, c. 1740-1940; tinplate is sheet-iron which is thinly coated with tin to make it rust-proof prior to being cut and fashioned into various objects. Tinplate working is the process by which the artisan cut and shaped tinplate into trays, boxes, candlesticks and other products, that was used in the japanning industry. Although the material used by the metal-workers was strictly tin-plated iron, the goods they produced were commonly called tinware (Woodbridge, 2012, pp. 17-18). This cabinet is decorated with japanned tinware, often referred to by present-day collectors as tole.

In the 1720s, two workmen from the Pontypool Iron Works in South Wales were the first to perfect the tinning process so that it could be viably scaled to a commercial level. They passed the iron through heavy rollers rather than hammering it, which yielded greater consistency and faster production. They subsequently adapted japanning techniques used by European cabinetmakers to create a durable and decorative finish for their tinware in the popular chinoiserie fashion. Their success led them to establish the Pontypool Japan Works by the early 1730s for the decoration of domestic tinware (ibid.) and expand their workshops to Birmingham and London. The Pontypool factory is best known for its chinoiserie designs, as seen in the present cabinet, however, rival factories emerged as well and thus the term 'Pontypool' is often used to describe japanned tinware products even when they were not necessarily made in Pontypool.

THE CRACE FIRM, 1768-1899
Edward Crace (1729-1799) founded the prominent firm of interior decorators in 1768, and was later Keeper of the Pictures for George III. His aforementioned son, John, and grandson, Frederick, famously designed much of the furniture and interior decoration for Carlton House and later Brighton Pavilion. Not japanners themselves, the Craces likely outsourced the japanned tinware inserts used to decorate the top and drawers of the cabinet made to their design (ibid., pp. 234-235).

It is quite rare to find the Pontypool technique used in luxury cabinet furniture. Comparable examples, albeit with less heightened and extravagant japanning, include a cabinet sold from a Hubert de Givenchy interior; Christie's, London, 10 February 2022, lot 169 and a further cabinet originally in the Duke of Devonshire’s collection at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, sold from The Collection of Kenneth Neame; Christie's, London, 13 June 2018, lot 6.