A GEORGE III SECRÉTAIRE CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM VILE, English, circa 1770
Width: 2 ft 1¼ in; 64 cm
Depth: 1 ft ½ in; 32 cm
Further images
The secrétaire section is fitted with a baize lined writing surface, three pigeon-holes, an open compartment, a long drawer and three small drawers. The cabinet is decorated with exceptionally fine carving to the Vitruvian scroll gallery, mouldings, cluster column stand and, most unusually, the cock-beading to each external drawer, a sign of superior quality and workmanship.
Similar secrétaire cabinets with identical Chinese trellis tops were in the collection of the Duke of Leeds at Hornby Castle in Yorkshire. A mirror glazed linen press from the same collection also features carved cock-beading and similarly carved mouldings.
The cabinet retains all the original ornate brass handles.
Provenance
Private collection, Hertfordshire, England.Literature
Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture from Gothic to Sheraton, 1929, p. 328.
Percy Macquoid and Ralph Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, revised edition, 1954, vol. I, pp. 151-2, figs. 58-60.
