A Regency Cabinet Attributed To Henry Holland

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NEW YORK

A REGENCY CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO HENRY HOLLAND An early 19th century rosewood and parcel-gilt display cabinet of grand proportions in the manner of Henry Holland; the superstructure comprising a glazed double door cabinet now lined with silk with showcase lining, with a gilded pediment, sitting on a white shaped marble top under which are two drawers and a further two cupboard doors, now with silk lining, the whole standing on unusual gilded turned feet.

England, circa 1805

Height: Width: Depth:

100 in (254 cm) 54 in (137 cm) 18½ in (47 cm)

LITERATURE: Huon Mallalieu, The Illustrated History of Antiques, Quarto Publishing plc, London, 1991. Frances Collard, Regency Furniture, Antique Collectors’Club Ltd, 1985.

F2H0353

HENRY HOLLAND (1745-1806) Henry Holland was one of the leading English Georgian architects who designed interiors and furniture in both the French and the Greco-Roman styles and therefore a key figure in the introduction of late 18th century French Neo-classicism into English furniture design. After studying architecture, he became the partner of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in 1771 whose daughter Bridget he married and with whom he built Claremont House in Esher, Surrey (1771-4). Holland’s relationship with Capability Brown introduced him to a wide and influential circle of patrons, who in turn brought him to the notice of George, Prince of Wales. Estranged from his father (George III), and with a complicated personal life which led him into severe debt, the Prince Regent nevertheless had new homes designed in London and Brighton for which he commissioned furniture from the leading English and French cabinet-makers.

The drawing room at Carlton House as illustrated in Thomas Sheraton’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1793).

Holland designed Brighton Pavillion in 1787 and there is a £30,000 invoice from Holland for work done at Carlton House including a new wing, hall, staircase, lodges and stables. The drawing room at Carlton House was illustrated in Sheraton’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1793), where two shelved side-tables and two pier-tables have been identified as designed by Holland in 1790. These furnishings have survived and are now in Buckingham Palace. The English aristocracy, led by the fun-loving Prince Regent, keenly followed the fashions in Paris. A dwarf cabinet designed by Holland illustrated below may be closely related to commodes by the Parisian ébenistes ClaudeCharles Saunier (1735-1807), Jean Henre Riesener (1734-1806) and Germanborn Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820). The French inspiration is shown in the richly figured veneers, delicate ormolu mounts, gilded columns and marble tops.

A dwarf cupboard designed by Holland, circa 1800 , illustrated in Huon Mallalieu, The illustrated History of Antiques, Quarto Publishing plc, London, 1991, p. 59.

Holland evolved an elegant Neo-classical style to rival that of Robert Adam, as can be seen at Brooks’s Club, 60 St James’ Street, London (1776-8). Holland designed a number of country houses, including Berrington Hall, near Leominster, Herefordshire (1778-81). He was also responsible for the remodelling of Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire (1787-1802) for the 5th Duke of Bedford, including the entrance portico (demolished), the conservatory (later the sculpture gallery) and Chinese dairy along with the remodelling of Althorp, Northamptonshire(1787-9), for the 2nd Earl Spencer (including cladding the building with mathematical tiles) and alterations at Broadlands, Hampshire (1788-92) and Southill, Bedfordshire (1796-1800).

One of a pair of chiffoniers at Southill illustrated in Frances Collard, Regency Furniture, Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd, 1985.

Samuel Whitbread inherited Southill in 1796 and commissioned Holland to transform and redecorate the house and also to acquire furniture for it. This was a project worked on intensively by Holland and which can be considered as his most complete work, as he was responsible, not only for the architecture, but also for the interior design and that of the furniture. At Southill, the Anglo-French style of early Regency furniture is typified by several low marble topped cupboards and bookcases that were probably made from Holland’s designs by Royal cabinet-makers Elward, Marsh and Tatham of London (active 1774-1840).

A rosewood commode designed by Henry Holland from Mrs. Whitbread’s Room, Southill, illustrated in Frances Collard, Regency Furniture, Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd, 1985.

The overall feel of this cabinet, the distinctive feet, and the contrast between the dark rosewood and the gilt mouldings relate closely to the furniture at Southill. Holland’s work shows two distinct styles; the chinoiserie style, which can be seen in his work for the Prince of Wales at Carlton House and Brighton Pavilion and his Francophile Classical style. He often used French cabinet-makers and had a long standing association with the ‘marchand mercier’, Dominique Daguerre. As an architect, he was influenced by French sources, notably Pierre Patte and Marie-Joseph Peyre, but he did use Greek elements in his designs. Cabinets such as the one currently offered by Mallett often had doors lined with pleated silk and sometimes as here, the door frames contained wire grilles. Rosewood was a popular wood with cabinetmakers during the Regency period, when timbers employed were dark in order to show off the finished brass and ormolu mounts to maximum effect. The type of rosewood used derives from the Brazilian blacktree or ‘Dalbergia Nigra’, now a highly endangered species. It is of a slow growth and can reach heights of eighty feet with a base diameter of five feet. The distinctive black streaks are created by close growth rings within the rosewood. The wood is hard and uniform in texture, which gives the finished piece a smooth and lustrous look. The architect Charles Heathcote Tatham was closely associated with Holland and was sent by him to make drawings in Rome of Classical architecture to be used at Carlton House. Holland died at a time when Classicism had re-established itself and in the year following his death, this style was continued under Thomas Hope and his publication in 1807 of Household Furniture and Interior Decoration.

Mallett has been fortunate enough to handle the sale of this cabinet once before in the 196os. Mallett Archive.

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