An Elizabethan Inlaid and Carved Oak Press Cupboard

Period: Circa 1600
Origin: England
Dimensions: W 55 1/8"" × H 63 3/4"" × D 23""
Reference: #Marh3822

Price on application

Description

An exceptionally fine and architecturally conceived Elizabethan oak press cupboard, dating to circa 1600, distinguished by the sophistication of its carved decoration, contrasting inlay and unusually accomplished architectural composition.

The cupboard is constructed in two stages. The lower section is enclosed by a pair of substantial panelled doors, each conceived as a miniature architectural façade. Slender stop-fluted pilasters rise from moulded bases to support rounded arches enriched with carved ornament, the recessed oak panels centred by inlaid eight-pointed stars in contrasting timber. The doors are divided by a broad central stile and flanked by vertically channelled uprights, while a continuous arcaded frieze forms the visual base of the composition.

Above, a deeply moulded horizontal division supports the more elaborate upper stage. Three individually framed cupboard doors are separated by broad vertical members and enclosed at either end by free-standing turned and fluted baluster columns.

The two outer doors repeat, on a smaller scale, the architectural language of the lower section: fluted pilasters supporting enriched semicircular arches, within which further contrasting star motifs are inlaid into the oak.

The central door is treated with markedly greater richness. Set forward within a deep, multiple-stepped frame, it is surrounded by successive bands of chip-carved, punched and incised ornament. Its architectural panel incorporates fluted pilasters, a rounded arch and cusped inner edge, while the spandrels are carved with foliate ornament. The resulting concentration of decoration establishes the central cupboard as the visual focus of the entire façade.

Across the upper stage, small punched motifs, geometric ornament, carved leaves, arcading and moulded architectural details create an exceptionally rich surface. Above is a long frieze of closely spaced blind arches, surmounted by a projecting cornice decorated with repeating incised ornament.

The design illustrates particularly well the assimilation of Renaissance architectural vocabulary into English furniture at the end of the sixteenth century. Classical columns, pilasters and arches are combined with cusping, repetitive arcading, chip carving and geometric ornament derived from an older English decorative tradition. The result is neither wholly Classical nor Gothic, but characteristic of the highly individual architectural furniture produced during the late Elizabethan period.

The use of contrasting inlaid stars is particularly noteworthy. Inlay occurs less frequently than carving on surviving English oak furniture of this period and introduces both colour and graphic emphasis to the otherwise architectural decoration. Their repetition across both stages demonstrates that they formed an integral part of the original decorative scheme rather than an isolated embellishment.

The quality and complexity of the cupboard suggest that it was made for a household of considerable means. Its scale, costly workmanship and unusually elaborate upper stage place it among the more ambitious surviving examples of English domestic furniture of around 1600

General the Rt Hon. Sir Redvers Henry Buller VC, GCB, GCMG (1839–1908), Downes, Crediton, Devon;

thence by descent within the Buller family;

Mary Bellis, Hungerford, acquired 14 December 1974;

The collection of John and Judith Adler;

Sotheby’s, London, The Adler Collection: European Sculpture, Works of Art and Early Furniture, 24 February 2005, lot 82;

Condition

The cupboard has survived in remarkably complete condition considering its age and architectural complexity and retains a particularly attractive, mature surface.

The upper hinges of the two lower doors are historic replacements, apparently dating from approximately the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The base has been historically tipped, raising the original lower structure clear of the floor and thereby protecting it from continued wear and damp. One bottom board is lacking.

There are further minor losses, repairs, wear and surface variation consistent with more than four centuries of domestic use. These interventions form part of the cupboard’s long history and do not detract from the remarkable survival of its principal architectural and decorative elements.

The exceptional quality of this cupboard is complemented by a provenance of unusual distinction. In the study of early furniture, provenance can provide considerably more than an additional mark of desirability: it records the changing environments in which an object was preserved, understood and collected. In this instance, the history encompasses an important historic English country-house collection, one of the notable names in the twentieth-century trade in early English furniture, and subsequently one of the most distinguished private collections of medieval and Renaissance works of art formed in modern Britain.

The earliest recorded owner is General the Rt Hon. Sir Redvers Henry Buller (1839–1908), one of the best-known British soldiers of the later Victorian period and recipient of the Victoria Cross. The cupboard was at Downes, Crediton, Devon, the historic seat of the Buller family, and subsequently descended within the family.

This part of the provenance is especially significant. Rather than first appearing on the twentieth-century art market without earlier history, the cupboard can be placed within a long-established Devon house and collection. Its survival at Downes also provides an important chapter in its physical history: substantial early oak furniture was valued and retained within country houses long before the development of the modern collecting market for early English furniture.

The cupboard subsequently entered the possession of Mary Bellis of Hungerford, from whom it is recorded as having been purchased on 14 December 1974. Bellis belongs to an important generation of twentieth-century specialists through whom early English furniture was studied, collected and preserved. Her ownership therefore represents a second, quite different chapter in the cupboard’s history: its transition from inherited country-house furnishing to a recognised and collected example of early English furniture.

It later entered the celebrated collection formed by John and Judith Adler.

The Adler provenance deserves particular emphasis. Their collection was remarkable for its concentration on European sculpture, works of art and early furniture and for the consistently high level of the objects selected. Rather than assembling furniture in isolation, the Adlers placed it within the broader artistic world of medieval and Renaissance Europe. Furniture was displayed alongside sculpture, metalwork and other works of art, allowing objects such as this cupboard to be appreciated as products of the same architectural and decorative culture.

The cupboard’s architectural character made it particularly suited to such a collection. Its columns, pilasters, arcades, cusped arches and densely worked central doorway transform what is fundamentally a functional piece of domestic furniture into a miniature architectural composition.

When the Adler Collection was dispersed at Sotheby’s in London on 24 February 2005, the cupboard was offered as lot 82, described as An Elizabethan Oak Press Cupboard, circa 1600. Significantly, Sotheby’s themselves drew attention to its strong architectural character, particularly the fluted pilasters supporting the arches and the deeply recessed, stepped framing surrounding the central door.

Its appearance in the Adler catalogue also provides an important fixed point in its documented history and preserves a photographic record of the cupboard before its present ownership.

Seen together, the sequence is unusually compelling:

Buller and Downes represent inheritance and the English country house; Mary Bellis represents the scholarly twentieth-century trade in early furniture; and John and Judith Adler represent the development of early furniture collecting into the wider connoisseurship of medieval and Renaissance works of art.

The provenance therefore does more than add distinguished names to the history of the cupboard. It documents successive generations through which an exceptional piece of Elizabethan furniture was preserved, recognised, collected and ultimately understood as a work of art.

Today, the cupboard’s importance rests upon this conjunction of qualities: its remarkable architectural design, unusual contrasting inlay, complexity of carved decoration, substantial survival and exceptionally well-documented collecting history. It is a particularly eloquent example of the sophistication achieved by English furniture makers at the close of the sixteenth century.

Curator's Note

An Elizabethan Inlaid and Carved Oak Press Cupboard

Description

Condition

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