Cabinets & Desks
A GEORGE III MAHOGANY COMMODE ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN COBB
Width: 55.5” / 141cm
Depth: 26.75” / 68cm
Further images
Provenance
Sold Sotheby’s, 14th June 1985, lot 90
Partridge (Fine Arts) Ltd., London, 1
Literature
L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes (London: 1994), pp. 43-53
G. Beard and C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840 (London: 1986), pp. 181-4
Publications
L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes (London: 1994), p. 52, fig. 8
Partridge, Recent Acquisitions 1986, no. 20
A GEORGE III MAHOGANY COMMODE
Attributed to John Cobb,
English, circa 1764
A serpentine mahogany commode attributed to John Cobb, belonging to the group discussed by Lucy Wood in Catalogue of Commodes (London, 1994, pp. 43–53). The group is linked to a documented commode supplied by Cobb to James West at Alscot Park in 1766.
The present commode belongs to a smaller group characterised by female mask mounts to the stiles and splayed legs terminating in cloven hoof feet. Related examples are recorded at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Blickling Hall, Norfolk, as well as in several private collections.
The female mask mounts incorporate rocaille, C-scrolls, acanthus and lambrequin ornament. The pierced Rococo handles and escutcheons are also found on related examples formerly in the H. Percy Dean and Sir Archibald Edmonstone collections.
A group of related commodes at Blickling Hall is associated with a payment made in 1762 to “Vile & Cobb cabinet-makers”. The form and mounts of the present example suggest a slightly later date, probably around 1764.
William Vile and John Cobb were appointed cabinet-makers to George III in 1761. Following Vile’s retirement, Cobb continued the business and became particularly associated with serpentine and Rococo furniture of this type.
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