The dentil-moulded cornice with scrolled open pediment above four astragal-glazed doors enclosing four long and eight short mahogany-edged adjustable shelves, above four panelled doors modelled with simulated drawers and with original foliate loop handles enclosing one long and four short adjustable shelves, on a moulded plinth base, indistinctly inscribed in chalk 'MRS M.STREET', two short shelves in the lower section associated
111¹⁄₄ in. (282.5 cm.) high; 72 in. (183 cm.) wide; 19 in. (49 cm.) deep

The Property of a Gentleman; Christie's, London, 4 June 2009, lot 129 (£25,000).

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
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Lot Essay

This superb bookcase's 'antique' hexagonal-compartmented glazing-bars and drawer-fitted base accompanied by 'French' style 'commode'-doors with indented corner mouldings is typical of the fashionable George III style popularised and promoted by Mayhew and Ince in the 1760s: their Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762,illustrates these features in consecutive designs, a 'Library Bookcase’, pl. XX, and a cabinet described as a 'Gentleman's Repository', pl. XXI. The cut-corner panelled doors of the bookcase match those on a breakfront-cabinet sold anonymously, Christie's London, 4 July 1996, lot 338 (£67,500, inc' prem'), while the use of richly figured mahogany for the base panels is often seen on Mayhew and Ince furniture including a breakfront bookcase attributed to the firm and sold from the collection of Jeremy Ltd., Christie's, London, 20 November 2008, lot 90 (£73,250, inc' prem'). Another related breakfront secretaire cabinet, formerly the property of Sir Walter John Trevelyan (1797 – 1879) and thence by descent at Nettlecombe Court, Somerset, until 1957, was sold from the collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller, Christie’s, New York, 10 May 2018, lot 619 ($87,500 inc’ prem’). The latter was attributed to the Wakefield cabinet-makers Wright & Elwick, whose work frequently related closely to designs published by their London counterparts.

MAYHEW AND INCE

One of the most successful cabinet-maker partnerships of the 18th century, John Mayhew (d. 1811) and William Ince (d. 1804) established their workshop in 1759 and published The Universal System of Household Furniturein 1762, a pattern book of their own furniture designs almost entirely in the rococo style. Firmly attributing furniture to Mayhew and Ince is complicated by both the extent to which the firm experimented stylistically and the fact that their designs were inevitably copied. Furthermore there are frequent inconsistencies in style, construction and quality of workmanship even amongst their known commissions for clients such as the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim, the Earl of Coventry at Croome Court and the Earl of Exeter at Burghley House.