A previously unknown Chippendale commission.

A George III satinwood marquetry secretaire a abbatant almost certainly by Thomas Chippendale.

Letters dating from 1855 from the previous owner, Captain Meade, and addressed to Earsham Hall, Norfolk, England, were discovered during restoration and are being retained with the piece. The drawers retain the original Chippendale typical lacquered brass axe handles.

This secrétaire à abbatant belongs to a small group of secrétaires either documented or attributed to the Chippendale workshop.

This type of secrétaire was very popular in France in the third quarter of the 18th century but was less widely produced in England, where few workshops are known to have made such pieces.

Chippendale’s secrétaires for Osterley Park, Isleworth, England, and Harewood House, Yorkshire, England, although both veneered in exotic lacquer are identical in outline to this secrétaire. The interior is also fitted in the same manner. The secrétaire fall is fitted with an ingenious lead weight counterbalance, making opening effortless. Chippendale used this feature on all the pieces in this group, whereas other workshops are not known to have used the weight counterbalance.

Other undocumented secrétaires which can be firmly allocated to the Chippendale workshop are a very similar one previously in the collection of the Hon. Lady Fry at Oare House in Wiltshire, England, and one sold by Norman Adams Ltd. and illustrated in their book on 18th century English furniture. Both of these pieces are constructed in a virtually identical way, with lead weight counterbalance and exactly the same drawer formation to the interior. The workshop appears to have had a preference at this time for using contrasting woods, and they can be seen on all examples in this group. Satinwood, purpleheart, holly and boxwood were used for the Oare House and Norman Adams examples, and our secrétaire features all of these as well as harewood and sycamore.

The vase inlays to the front are of exceptional quality, and are made up of many more exotic and dyed woods. The appearance of the inlay is then enhanced by careful engraving and shading. Both techniques produce a three-dimensional effect by simulating depth and shadow.

Chippendale’s bill dated 12 June 1773 for the Harewood House secrétaire is preserved in the Harewood archives: ‘A Lady’s Secretary vaneer’d with your own Japann with additions of Carved Ornaments & c Japann’d & part Gilt, the front of the Secretary to rise with Balance Weights £26 - - .’

EARSHAM HALL, NORFOLK

Earsham Hall dates back to the 15th century and was home to the Gooch family, who married into the Buxton family. The Buxtons sold the house to William Windham in 1720. Windham’s grandson, also called William (1706–1789), became Comptroller of the Household of HRH The Duke of Cumberland. He and his wife Mary, Countess of Deloraine, engaged the architect John Soane and made many improvements to Earsham. It is likely that the secrétaire was ordered by them during this time.

The house and its contents passed through numerous generations within the Windham family until John Windham Meade inherited it in 1919 and subsequently let the property to an American couple. During the Second World War it was used to house evacuees, and from 1948 to 1973 it served as a boarding school. The house was put up for sale in 1976. Today Earsham is the private home of the Derham family, who have restored much of the building, thus preserving it for the future.

Further research may one day reveal documentary evidence of the commission.