拍品專文
This ormolu-mounted marquetry and parquetry breakfront cabinet is attributed to Christopher Fuhrlohg (1737-92), a Paris-trained cabinet-maker from Sweden, based on a number of closely-related examples attributed to or by him.
A square piano, 1775, in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, the case attributed to Fuhrlohg, the instrument signed and dated by Frederick Beck, is the closest equivalent to this cabinet. It is of similar box-like form but stands on a plinth rather than ormolu feet. This piano has a related oval floral medallion on top, and a comparable decorative composition to the front with a central medallion on a parquetry ground - in this example, the medallion based on ‘The Triumph of Venus’ by Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807). The medallion is similarly flanked by muses; to the left, possibly Terpsichore or Erato (the same figure found on the left panel of the cabinet) and to the right, a Bacchante with cymbals (L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, pp. 115-122, no. 10). ‘Terpsichore’ also appears on a bonheur-du-jour, c. 1780, at Stourhead, which it has been suggested was a combined effort by one of London’s leading cabinet-makers and upholsterers, John Linnell (1729-96) and Fuhrlohg (L. Wood, ‘A Bonheur-du-jour at Stourhead: The Work of John Linnell and Christopher Fuhrlohg’, Furniture History, 2007, p. 55). The inspiration for ‘Terpsichore’ is probably after Bernard Picart's engraving of an antique gem, published in Philippe de Stosch's Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae, Amsterdam (1724), plate VII, while the Bacchante with cymbals derives from Filippo Morghen’s Le Pitture Antiche d'Ercolano (1760) (L. Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots in London’, Furniture History Society, 2014, p. 270, f/n 59). The same ormolu reed-and-ribbon border encircles the central medallion, and other border mounts are identical (Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, p. 122).
The central medallion on this cabinet depicts Erato playing her lyre, a figure derived from Kauffman, who probably supplied drawings to Fuhrlohg. The matching figure is found on a ‘French’ transitional commode, 1772, by Furhlohg, which is engraved in the marquetry panel: ‘C. FURHLOHG. FECIT. MDCCLXXII’, and to the left the source of the design: 'ANGELICA. KAUFFMAN. R.A. PINXENT’ [sic] (the commode formerly in the Knapp collection, sold Sotheby’s, London, 11 April 1975, lot 140; J.F. Hayward, ‘A newly discovered commode signed by Christopher Fuhrlohg’, The Burlington Magazine, October 1972, p. 707, fig. 79). The near pair to the Knapp commode is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (ibid., fig. 80). A set of three commodes, the largest with a central medallion representing Kauffman’s ‘The Triumph of Venus’ and two smaller examples ensuite, all with parquetry panels, is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and based on the Knapp/Lady Lever commodes have been attributed to Fuhrlohg (accession no. 66.64.2-4).
The parquetry panels on these commodes and the basket-weave ground of this cabinet is featured on French cabinet furniture; a fashion that Fuhrlohg would have been familiar with following his Parisian sojourn. The same basket-weave motif and the heart-shape foliate scrolls on which the two flanking muses stand are also found on the table-top of a writing table attributed to Fuhrlohg in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland (C. Streeter, ‘Marquetry Furniture by a Brilliant London Master’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, June, 1971, fig. 6). The basket-weave also appears on a marquetry bureau, c. 1770-75, possibly by another Swedish immigrant furniture maker in London, such as Johan Christian Linning (1749-1801), Fuhrlohg’s half-brother, who had joined Furhlohg’s workshop in c. 1770-71; this bureau also has a central medallion in the manner of Kauffman (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, NMK 72-2006; Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots, pp. 256-257, fig. 20). The basket-weave can be seen again on the top of a serpentine-fronted side table, now in a private collection; Hayward, ‘A Newly Discovered Commode’, p. 712, fig. 89).
Fuhrlohg arrived in London by way of Paris either in late 1766 or early 1767. He was in Paris between 1763 and 1766 where he and his fellow-journeyman, Georg Haupt (1741-84), seemingly spent some time in the workshop of Jean-François Oeben (1721-63) and his younger brother Simon (c. 1725-86), a period when the workshop direction passed from Jean-François Oeben's widow to Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), whom she married in 1767 (Wood, ‘A Bonheur-du-jour at Stourhead’, p. 67, f/n 10). Fuhrlohg and Haupt were probably introduced to Linnell by William Chambers (1723-96), Surveyor General of His Majesty's Works, and thereafter employed at Linnell’s Berkeley Square workshop (Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 244). Fuhrlohg’s association with Linnell can be firmly established by the inclusion of a design for a ‘French’ transitional marquetry commode in Linnell's album of furniture designs held in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the executed commode, which is signed in pencil inside the left end of the carcass: ‘Christopher Fuhrlohg fecit 1767’ (E.292-1929; Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 267, f/n 18). This commode was supplied to the 5th Earl of Carlisle, one of Linnell’s patrons, probably for Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, where it is still in situ (https://bifmo.history.ac.uk/entry/fuhrlohg-christopher-1740-87. Accessed 14 April 2001; Hayward, ‘A Newly Discovered Commode’, p. 705, fig. 78). The fact that it was signed, and in such a manner, suggests a European craftsman in the employ of a cabinet-maker; it was customary practice in both Stockholm (and Paris) for ébénistes to sign their work but the signature is inconspicuously signed in the interior (ibid., p. 707).
By 1771-72, Fuhrlohg had set up business on his own account at 24 Tottenham Court Road when he described himself as ‘Cabinet Maker’, ‘Inlayer’ and/or ‘Ebeniste’ on his various trade cards (Hayward, ibid., p. 708). Both Fuhrlohg and Linning exhibited panels of figurative marquetry at the Society of Artists, which were probably for sale to other cabinet-makers (J.F. Hayward, ‘A Further Note on Christopher Fuhrlohg’, The Burlington Magazine, July, 1977, p. 489). In 1773, Fuhrlohg showed ‘A bacchante in inlay’ and in 1774, ‘Venus attired by the Graces, in inlay’ and ‘A Flora, in ditto’ (Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 253). In the following year, Linning displayed ‘The Muse Erato, in different coloured Wood, inlaid’ and in 1776, ‘Diana in stained Wood, a circle’ (ibid.).
The Richardsons of Ravensfell, Bromley, Kent and Dunn’s Depositories
This cabinet is possibly from the collection of the Richardson family of Bromley, Kent, either at Ravensfell, Bromley House or Lascelles in neighbouring Shortlands. The family was originally wool merchants from Yorkshire, and descended from Christopher Richardson (c. 1619-98) of Lascelles Hall, Rector of Kirkheaton, both in York. They arrived in Bromley as drapers in the mid-19th century, and had Ravensfell built in 1858. Although it has not been possible to identify ‘H.F. Richardson’, there was a business transaction between Hugh Lascelles Richardson (1887-1954) and Edward George Adams Dunn (1881-1952) of H.G. Dunn & Sons Ltd. when Richardson leased a portion of the Ravensfell estate to Dunn (Bromley Historic Collections 42/4/9). Dunn & Sons, active from the early 18th century to 1980, in addition to supplying furniture and fittings to many of the large houses in the 19th century also had a removals and warehousing facility, Dunn’s Depositories. Other furniture with the Richardson/Dunn’s Depositories label has appeared in the saleroom, for example, a George II giltwood console table, sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 1995, lot 237. This bore the name ‘F.R. RICHARDSON 22.4-27’, which may refer to Frances Ruth (Ferrand) Richardson (1891-1965). Interestingly, Hugh Lascelles and Frances Ruth, his sister, moved back and forth to respectively Australia and Malaya from the late 1920s, early 30s, and the label on the cabinet may denote that it went into temporary storage at Dunn’s Depositories in this period.
A square piano, 1775, in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, the case attributed to Fuhrlohg, the instrument signed and dated by Frederick Beck, is the closest equivalent to this cabinet. It is of similar box-like form but stands on a plinth rather than ormolu feet. This piano has a related oval floral medallion on top, and a comparable decorative composition to the front with a central medallion on a parquetry ground - in this example, the medallion based on ‘The Triumph of Venus’ by Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807). The medallion is similarly flanked by muses; to the left, possibly Terpsichore or Erato (the same figure found on the left panel of the cabinet) and to the right, a Bacchante with cymbals (L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, pp. 115-122, no. 10). ‘Terpsichore’ also appears on a bonheur-du-jour, c. 1780, at Stourhead, which it has been suggested was a combined effort by one of London’s leading cabinet-makers and upholsterers, John Linnell (1729-96) and Fuhrlohg (L. Wood, ‘A Bonheur-du-jour at Stourhead: The Work of John Linnell and Christopher Fuhrlohg’, Furniture History, 2007, p. 55). The inspiration for ‘Terpsichore’ is probably after Bernard Picart's engraving of an antique gem, published in Philippe de Stosch's Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae, Amsterdam (1724), plate VII, while the Bacchante with cymbals derives from Filippo Morghen’s Le Pitture Antiche d'Ercolano (1760) (L. Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots in London’, Furniture History Society, 2014, p. 270, f/n 59). The same ormolu reed-and-ribbon border encircles the central medallion, and other border mounts are identical (Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, p. 122).
The central medallion on this cabinet depicts Erato playing her lyre, a figure derived from Kauffman, who probably supplied drawings to Fuhrlohg. The matching figure is found on a ‘French’ transitional commode, 1772, by Furhlohg, which is engraved in the marquetry panel: ‘C. FURHLOHG. FECIT. MDCCLXXII’, and to the left the source of the design: 'ANGELICA. KAUFFMAN. R.A. PINXENT’ [sic] (the commode formerly in the Knapp collection, sold Sotheby’s, London, 11 April 1975, lot 140; J.F. Hayward, ‘A newly discovered commode signed by Christopher Fuhrlohg’, The Burlington Magazine, October 1972, p. 707, fig. 79). The near pair to the Knapp commode is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (ibid., fig. 80). A set of three commodes, the largest with a central medallion representing Kauffman’s ‘The Triumph of Venus’ and two smaller examples ensuite, all with parquetry panels, is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and based on the Knapp/Lady Lever commodes have been attributed to Fuhrlohg (accession no. 66.64.2-4).
The parquetry panels on these commodes and the basket-weave ground of this cabinet is featured on French cabinet furniture; a fashion that Fuhrlohg would have been familiar with following his Parisian sojourn. The same basket-weave motif and the heart-shape foliate scrolls on which the two flanking muses stand are also found on the table-top of a writing table attributed to Fuhrlohg in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland (C. Streeter, ‘Marquetry Furniture by a Brilliant London Master’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, June, 1971, fig. 6). The basket-weave also appears on a marquetry bureau, c. 1770-75, possibly by another Swedish immigrant furniture maker in London, such as Johan Christian Linning (1749-1801), Fuhrlohg’s half-brother, who had joined Furhlohg’s workshop in c. 1770-71; this bureau also has a central medallion in the manner of Kauffman (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, NMK 72-2006; Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots, pp. 256-257, fig. 20). The basket-weave can be seen again on the top of a serpentine-fronted side table, now in a private collection; Hayward, ‘A Newly Discovered Commode’, p. 712, fig. 89).
Fuhrlohg arrived in London by way of Paris either in late 1766 or early 1767. He was in Paris between 1763 and 1766 where he and his fellow-journeyman, Georg Haupt (1741-84), seemingly spent some time in the workshop of Jean-François Oeben (1721-63) and his younger brother Simon (c. 1725-86), a period when the workshop direction passed from Jean-François Oeben's widow to Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), whom she married in 1767 (Wood, ‘A Bonheur-du-jour at Stourhead’, p. 67, f/n 10). Fuhrlohg and Haupt were probably introduced to Linnell by William Chambers (1723-96), Surveyor General of His Majesty's Works, and thereafter employed at Linnell’s Berkeley Square workshop (Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 244). Fuhrlohg’s association with Linnell can be firmly established by the inclusion of a design for a ‘French’ transitional marquetry commode in Linnell's album of furniture designs held in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the executed commode, which is signed in pencil inside the left end of the carcass: ‘Christopher Fuhrlohg fecit 1767’ (E.292-1929; Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 267, f/n 18). This commode was supplied to the 5th Earl of Carlisle, one of Linnell’s patrons, probably for Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, where it is still in situ (https://bifmo.history.ac.uk/entry/fuhrlohg-christopher-1740-87. Accessed 14 April 2001; Hayward, ‘A Newly Discovered Commode’, p. 705, fig. 78). The fact that it was signed, and in such a manner, suggests a European craftsman in the employ of a cabinet-maker; it was customary practice in both Stockholm (and Paris) for ébénistes to sign their work but the signature is inconspicuously signed in the interior (ibid., p. 707).
By 1771-72, Fuhrlohg had set up business on his own account at 24 Tottenham Court Road when he described himself as ‘Cabinet Maker’, ‘Inlayer’ and/or ‘Ebeniste’ on his various trade cards (Hayward, ibid., p. 708). Both Fuhrlohg and Linning exhibited panels of figurative marquetry at the Society of Artists, which were probably for sale to other cabinet-makers (J.F. Hayward, ‘A Further Note on Christopher Fuhrlohg’, The Burlington Magazine, July, 1977, p. 489). In 1773, Fuhrlohg showed ‘A bacchante in inlay’ and in 1774, ‘Venus attired by the Graces, in inlay’ and ‘A Flora, in ditto’ (Wood, ‘Georg Haupt and his Compatriots’, p. 253). In the following year, Linning displayed ‘The Muse Erato, in different coloured Wood, inlaid’ and in 1776, ‘Diana in stained Wood, a circle’ (ibid.).
The Richardsons of Ravensfell, Bromley, Kent and Dunn’s Depositories
This cabinet is possibly from the collection of the Richardson family of Bromley, Kent, either at Ravensfell, Bromley House or Lascelles in neighbouring Shortlands. The family was originally wool merchants from Yorkshire, and descended from Christopher Richardson (c. 1619-98) of Lascelles Hall, Rector of Kirkheaton, both in York. They arrived in Bromley as drapers in the mid-19th century, and had Ravensfell built in 1858. Although it has not been possible to identify ‘H.F. Richardson’, there was a business transaction between Hugh Lascelles Richardson (1887-1954) and Edward George Adams Dunn (1881-1952) of H.G. Dunn & Sons Ltd. when Richardson leased a portion of the Ravensfell estate to Dunn (Bromley Historic Collections 42/4/9). Dunn & Sons, active from the early 18th century to 1980, in addition to supplying furniture and fittings to many of the large houses in the 19th century also had a removals and warehousing facility, Dunn’s Depositories. Other furniture with the Richardson/Dunn’s Depositories label has appeared in the saleroom, for example, a George II giltwood console table, sold Christie’s, London, 21 April 1995, lot 237. This bore the name ‘F.R. RICHARDSON 22.4-27’, which may refer to Frances Ruth (Ferrand) Richardson (1891-1965). Interestingly, Hugh Lascelles and Frances Ruth, his sister, moved back and forth to respectively Australia and Malaya from the late 1920s, early 30s, and the label on the cabinet may denote that it went into temporary storage at Dunn’s Depositories in this period.