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A William & Mary kingwood oyster veneered cabinet on chest attributed to Thomas Pistor
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Description
A William & Mary kingwood oyster veneered cabinet on chest attributed to Thomas PistorThe upper part with a moulded overhanging cornice and a cushion frieze drawer above a pair of cupboard doors inlaid with concentric circles and enclosing a fitted interior of eleven various drawers, the housing for two of the larger top drawers concealing sliding compartments with small removable lidded boxes, around a central cupboard door with a sliding panel and concealed box compartment within the door, the door enclosing four further small short drawers, the lower part with two short and two long drawers, on later bun feet, the sides similarly decorated with oyster veneers, 119cm wide, 51cm deep, 180.5cm high The attribution to the London cabinet-maker Thomas Pistor is based on a group of pieces identified and previously with W.R Harvey including two kingwood cabinets and a desk to which the cabinet offered here is clearly part of the same group.There were in fact two cabinet-makers called Thomas Pistor, father and son, working for a period at the same time but at different premises. One or both are known to have made furniture of quality for Levens Hall although the group of kingwood pieces that correspond to the cabinet offered here do not relate directly to the Levens Hall furniture.From the 4-18 August 1950 Country Life ran a series of articles featuring what was then the recently rebuilt Buxted Park, a house reconstructed by the architect Basil Ionides following a serious fire and in one of the illustrations a kingwood escritoire is visible. Subsequently Christopher Gilbert commented in The Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, p.44 that a “highly important kingwood fall-front cabinet inscribed ‘Thomas Pistor, Ludgate Hill, London’, formerly owned by the Hon. Basil Ionides, unfortunately remains untraced. It was amongst the Buxted Park furniture at Sotheby’s, 25 September 1963, lot 168 (withdrawn)…”. The whereabouts of this escritoire remain unknown and further details of how the pieces was marked remain uncertain.There was in fact no Sotheby’s sale on this date. A somewhat later sale of the Ionides’ property was held by Sotheby’s, 1 November 1963, in which lot 168 was described as “A William and Mary olivewood secretaire cabinet in richly figured parquetry…”. although no trade label is mentioned. It is nonetheless possible that this is the piece referred to by Christopher Gilbert. Gilbert was amongst the first generation of furniture historians to have begun compiling archives of stamped and labelled furniture leading to the publication of both The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers and Marked London Furniture 1660-1840 (1996). The Buxted cabinets appearance could well have meant that his attention was drawn to it by the furniture department at Sotheby’s while processing the Ionides property.The overall profile and proportions of the Buxted escritoire conforms to that of the cabinet offered here and the W.R Harvey cabinets as does the pattern of oysters visible on the frieze drawer, and there is a strikingly similar large radiating circular pattern. It is undoubtedly the same maker responsible for the cabinet offered here and for the two W.R Harvey cabinets, one of which is a near pair to the above cabinet. The two cabinets share virtually identical dimensions, profile of the mouldings at the cornice, waist and base. The size and layout of all of the drawers are identical and in both cabinets secret drawers can be found in the underside of the internal door and above the two top internal drawers and the use of veneers is near identical on both pieces. The interiors of both are furnished with two large drawers above and below the central door, three smaller drawers either side, and a small drawer immediately below the door. The veneers on the drawers are again almost identical, the chest sections have dovetails that appear to have been cut by the same hand. The internal door locks appear the same and most strikingly of all, the stylised numbers on the backs of the internal drawers and the corresponding divides were seemingly done by the same hand presumably in the same workshop.
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A William & Mary kingwood oyster veneered cabinet on chest attributed to Thomas PistorThe upper part with a moulded overhanging cornice and a cushion frieze drawer above a pair of cupboard doors inlaid with concentric circles and enclosing a fitted interior of eleven various drawers, the housing for two of the larger top drawers concealing sliding compartments with small removable lidded boxes, around a central cupboard door with a sliding panel and concealed box compartment within the door, the door enclosing four further small short drawers, the lower part with two short and two long drawers, on later bun feet, the sides similarly decorated with oyster veneers, 119cm wide, 51cm deep, 180.5cm high The attribution to the London cabinet-maker Thomas Pistor is based on a group of pieces identified and previously with W.R Harvey including two kingwood cabinets and a desk to which the cabinet offered here is clearly part of the same group.There were in fact two cabinet-makers called Thomas Pistor, father and son, working for a period at the same time but at different premises. One or both are known to have made furniture of quality for Levens Hall although the group of kingwood pieces that correspond to the cabinet offered here do not relate directly to the Levens Hall furniture.From the 4-18 August 1950 Country Life ran a series of articles featuring what was then the recently rebuilt Buxted Park, a house reconstructed by the architect Basil Ionides following a serious fire and in one of the illustrations a kingwood escritoire is visible. Subsequently Christopher Gilbert commented in The Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, p.44 that a “highly important kingwood fall-front cabinet inscribed ‘Thomas Pistor, Ludgate Hill, London’, formerly owned by the Hon. Basil Ionides, unfortunately remains untraced. It was amongst the Buxted Park furniture at Sotheby’s, 25 September 1963, lot 168 (withdrawn)…”. The whereabouts of this escritoire remain unknown and further details of how the pieces was marked remain uncertain.There was in fact no Sotheby’s sale on this date. A somewhat later sale of the Ionides’ property was held by Sotheby’s, 1 November 1963, in which lot 168 was described as “A William and Mary olivewood secretaire cabinet in richly figured parquetry…”. although no trade label is mentioned. It is nonetheless possible that this is the piece referred to by Christopher Gilbert. Gilbert was amongst the first generation of furniture historians to have begun compiling archives of stamped and labelled furniture leading to the publication of both The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers and Marked London Furniture 1660-1840 (1996). The Buxted cabinets appearance could well have meant that his attention was drawn to it by the furniture department at Sotheby’s while processing the Ionides property.The overall profile and proportions of the Buxted escritoire conforms to that of the cabinet offered here and the W.R Harvey cabinets as does the pattern of oysters visible on the frieze drawer, and there is a strikingly similar large radiating circular pattern. It is undoubtedly the same maker responsible for the cabinet offered here and for the two W.R Harvey cabinets, one of which is a near pair to the above cabinet. The two cabinets share virtually identical dimensions, profile of the mouldings at the cornice, waist and base. The size and layout of all of the drawers are identical and in both cabinets secret drawers can be found in the underside of the internal door and above the two top internal drawers and the use of veneers is near identical on both pieces. The interiors of both are furnished with two large drawers above and below the central door, three smaller drawers either side, and a small drawer immediately below the door. The veneers on the drawers are again almost identical, the chest sections have dovetails that appear to have been cut by the same hand. The internal door locks appear the same and most strikingly of all, the stylised numbers on the backs of the internal drawers and the corresponding divides were seemingly done by the same hand presumably in the same workshop.
Fine Furniture & Objects
Sale Date(s)
Venue Address
Moor Park Mansion
Moor Park
Hertfordshire
WD3 1QN
United Kingdom
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Post Sale Collections and Storage Information
All auction purchases should be collected within 7 days of the auction from The Dairy, Stonor, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 6HF.
Lots will not be released until they are paid in full (i.e cleared funds) and shippers will need to be authorised in writing to collect on behalf of the purchaser.
We will be operating collection of sold lots strictly by appointment from The Dairy, Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 6HF. Collection slots are between 10.00am - 4.00pm Monday to Friday and must be booked in advance.
We can only accommodate vehicles up to 7.5tonnes on the Stonor Park Estate. Lifting assistance is not always available at The Dairy - so please do check with us first if required.
Please make contact with The Pedestal if you need assistance in arranging transport or are unable to make collection within the given time frame.
Goods not collected within 7 days may be subject to an administration charge on £10 and then storage charged at:
£3 per day for pictures and small items
£6 per day for furniture, larger pictures and objects.
Full value protection cover for the value of the hammer price with be charged at 0.6% but will not exceed the total value of all other transfer and storage charges.
VAT will be applied at the current rate on any charges levied.
If items remain uncollected after the free collection period we reserve the right to transfer them to external storage where a transfer charge and additional storage charges will apply.
Any lots not collected within 90 days after the auction may be sold by us at our discretion, with the proceeds applied to cover all Unpaid Sums including storage and handling charges. In this event any surplus will be paid over to you, and we will claim any shortfall from you as an Unpaid Sum.
Important Information
Viewing is available at Moor Park Mansion, a Grade I Listed Palladian Mansion, as follows:
11am-4pm Saturday March 11 2017
11am-4pm Sunday March 12 2017
9am-5pm Monday March 13 2017
9am-12pm Tuesday March 14 2017
Moor Park is served by Metropolitan Line tube stations at both Moor Park and Rickmansworth (followed by a short taxi-cab ride) and is only 22 miles from Central London. Plenty of on-site car parking is available, with easy access from the M25, M40 and M1.
Buyers Premium on the hammer price of each lot: 24% up to 50,000, 20% thereafter, plus VAT. There is an additional charge of 3% of the hammer price plus VAT for each lot purchased via The Saleroom. All sales are subject to The Pedestal's Terms and Conditions which you are encouraged to read before bidding.
Terms & Conditions
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR AUCTION PURCHASERS
- These Terms and Conditions apply to all transactions relating to the purchase of items by a bidder (referred to as “you”) at auction or as an auction after-sale by The Pedestal Limited, trading as The Pedestal (referred to as “we”), and may not be varied unless agreed in writing in advance by one of our directors. By registering to bid and/or bidding you accept these terms.
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- When we offer items for consignment at auction, we will usually include in the auction listing a description of the lot and an estimate of potential sale value. Upon request we may also supply a condition report, which will be based on a visual inspection of each lot without disassembly or further investigation of physical condition, and on information available to us at the time. All information is provided after due consideration and to the best of our knowledge and experience, but cannot be taken as a statement of fact, a guarantee or statement of value or a guarantee or statement that mechanical or electrical parts are functioning correctly or at all.
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- We may enter one or more bids consecutively or otherwise on behalf of the seller up to but not beyond the level of the reserve.
- Subject only to the auctioneer’s discretion set out in clause 9 above, when the auctioneer’s hammer falls no further bids will be accepted and a contract for sale is formed between the successful bidder and ourselves as agent for the seller.
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- We will charge a buyer’s fee of 24% on the first £50,000 of the hammer price of each lot, and 20% of any portion of such hammer price which is above £50,000.
- We offer an online bidding service via the-saleroom.com for bidders who cannot attend the sale. In completing the bidder registration on www.the-saleroom.com and providing your credit card details and unless alternative arrangements are agreed with us:
- You authorise us, if we so choose, to charge the credit card given in part or full payment, including all fees, for items successfully purchased in the auction via the-saleroom.com, and
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Any lots purchased via the-saleroom.com live auction service will be subject to an additional 3% commission charge.
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- If you fail to make due payment for any lot we may, at our discretion and without limitation to other available remedies, charge you interest at the rate of 12% per annum; bring legal proceedings against you for the unpaid sum and all associated fees and costs including professional fees (“Unpaid Sums”); retain and sell ourselves or otherwise any other lots held by us which are your property or any sums otherwise payable by us to you and use such proceeds or sums to defray the Unpaid Sums; cancel the sale, re-offer the lot and claim any shortfall and any associated costs from you; and/or pass your identity and contact details to the seller so that they can pursue legal remedies against you directly.
- All lots must be collected from Alban Shipping of Unit 4, Premier Business Park, Dencora Way, Luton, Bedfordshire LU3 3HP or as otherwise notified, within 14 days after the auction. Storage and handling fees will be charged in relation to lots left uncollected after that date at Alban Shipping’s standard rates from time to time. Any lots not collected within 90 days after the auction may be sold by us at our discretion, with the proceeds applied to cover all Unpaid Sums including storage and handling charges. In this event any surplus will be paid over to you, and we will claim any shortfall from you as an Unpaid Sum.
- A lot which has been collected from our warehouse by you or a shipper acting on your behalf is deemed to have been delivered to you by us at the time of such collection.
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- General Terms:
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