Constable gave up his house in Mansfield Street in 1784 due to
ill health.
Some of the furniture was moved to Burton Constable
in Yorkshire, and the other furnishings were sold at auction.
He
died seven years later, in 1791.
The inventory of Burton Constable
drawn up in that year is so rudimentary that identifying specific
pieces of furniture is nearly impossible:
Gallery and Closet
–one other cabinet
–one large cabinet
The Dressing Room, North Wing
–two cabinets.
A century later, the 1894 inventory describes the pieces in each
room in slightly more detail:
Lady Constable’s Bed Room
2 Very handsome satin wood Cabinets with circular door and
shaped ends with very fine rich Marquetrie of curious colours.
The next inventory of Burton Constable, taken in 1910, does not
list the cabinet.
Presumably when each successive generation
took over the vast property, some furniture would have been
changed, with the items no longer required being sold or simply
removed from the house.
Today the only links with Burton Constable are Chippendale’s bill
(although, as noted, this does not mention the metal mounts),
the similarity to Adam’s ceiling designs at Mansfield Street, and
the mention in the 1894 inventory, which leave the research
inconclusive.
A satinwood secrétaire bookcase that features brass mounts is
mentioned in Chippendale’s accounts for Burwood Park, Surrey,
England: fustic can be mistaken for satinwood when it has
not yet oxidised with age.
This bill also mentions an alteration
of a cabinet by taking away the cornice.
On 12 June 1792 the
Chippendale firm billed Sir John Frederick, Bart.
of Burwood Park
for: ‘Repairing thoroughly new working & polishing a Sattinwood
Lady’s Secretary and Bookcase altering by taking away the
Pediment lacquering the Brass Work and new Lining the Writing
Part with fine Green Cloth.
£2 d12’.
The fact that an alteration is
mentioned, as well as brass mounts, is compelling.
A pair of fustic bookcase cabinets is mentioned in the
Chippendale accounts of 1774 for Burton Constable in Yorkshire
‘To 2 very neat Bookcases made of fustic cross Banded wit
Allegozant with neat shaped doors Glazd with the Best Crow
Glass and Slideing Shelves, the Bottom parts made deeper wit
Slideing Shelves and folding doors Cross Banded & Inlaid
£44--
The Burwood Chippendale accounts that have survived
unfortunately cover only the years 1790–1796.
The cabinet
would have been supplied around 1770–1775.
The accounts do
however show an entry for furnishing Sir John’s London house
on Hanover Square:
April 2nd, 1773
By Charles Ewans’s Account for Repairing & fitting up my House
in Hanover Square, with all & Every of the Tradesmens bills
employed for work done in and about the said House in full paid &
settled this day by Lough Carleton £1977, 10, 7½.
There is no mention of brass mounts in the bill, which is unusual
as Chippendale would usually have mentioned these extra
costs.
Lady Winn’s commode with brass mounts at Nostell was
invoiced at £40 on 22 December 1770.
The inlay on the commod e
would have taken a considerable time to produce, and the brass
mounts would have been made specifically for it.
Casting metal
mounts often produced faulty casts with poor definition or even
holes in the casting.
It is very likely that the mounts for the Winn
commode were cast several times before Chippendale was happ y
with the results.
The entry clearly states that Ewans was employed as the
agent to oversee the furnishing of the house.
Charles Ewans
shared workshop premises with W.
Mills on St.
Martin’s Lane,
London, opposite Old Slaughter’s Coffee House.
It is likely that
Ewans engaged nearby workshops including Chippendale’s
to supply furniture for the house.
The date of 1773 or slightly
earlier corresponds well with the supply date for Lady Winn’s
commode, which had to precede the supply of the cabinets, as
the brass mounts were made especially for the commode and
then extended for the cabinets.
It is also possible that the brass
mounted fustic cabinet was bought second-hand, perhaps from
Burton Constable.
Chippendale was known for buying back
furniture that he had made, and selling it on.
William Constable acquired the lease of No.
5 Mansfield Street i n
London in 1774.
He employed Robert Adam to design the interio r
of the house.
Drawings for Mansfield Street are preserved in
the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London.
The ceiling designs for
the drawing rooms incorporate circles of husks which are joined
at the quarter with small circular loops, and long oblong fields
centred by circles.
Both these unusual features are repeated
in the design of the cabinets.
It was common practice for
Chippendale to incorporate a room’s architectural details in his
designs for its furniture.
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