Extremely Fine Pair of George III Period Mahogany Serpentine Chests of Drawers / Commodes with Stop Fluted Angles c.1765

These fine chests have pull out brushing slides over a two small and three larger drawer configuration, the larger drawers being finely graduated. The chests stand on beautifully drawn ogee bracket feet. The canted corners of the chests are decorated with stop fluting. The metalware on the chests is of exemplary quality, retaining much of its original gilding. The small drop handles on the dressing slide are of a pattern used by both Thomas Chippendale and Ince and Mayhew. See the internal handles on the famous Osterley lacquer secretaire, believed to have been supplied by Chippendale, for an identical handle (image 7 at the following link) The handles on the drawers on our piece, with their beautiful floral backplates, are also a highly elegant and important pattern. In the course of our research we have discovered the same handles on another serpentine chest sold at Sotheby’s in 2006 and catalogued as c.1770. That chest has simpler bracket feet that do suggest a later date than our pair and they also incorporate cluster columns in the gothic taste rather than the stop fluting on our examples. It is still likely that the pieces come from a common workshop, almost certainly one of the leading London firms of the period. Finding pairs of chests of drawers of this quality is extremely difficult. The chests have a fine colour and patination and are beautifully proportioned. They would enhance any collection of English furniture and would add an element of refined grace to any interior.