Chest-on-chest
possibly Wright & Elwick (c. 1747 - 1824)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1760
Materials
Mahogany, veneered onto deal, deal backboards, oak drawer linings, gilt brass
Measurements
187 x 115 x 59 cm
Place of origin
Wakefield, Yorkshire
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire (Accredited Museum)
NT 959320
Summary
A mahogany chest on chest, English, circa 1760, possibly by Wright & Elwick (1748 - 1824). Of very good quality timber. The upper section with canted corners and moulded and pierced dentil cornice above a frieze finely carved with flowers, above three short and three graduated long drawers, all cockbeaded and between flower-carved corners. The lower section with three graduated long drawers and raised on bracket feet with pierced, shaped spandrels. Fitted with fine gilt brass Rococo handles, backplates and escutcheons.
Full description
Despite features shared by chests-on-chests, or 'double chests', made by Chippendale, this piece of furniture could also be the work of Wright & Elwick, London-trained cabinetmakers from Wakefield, Yorkshire. Richard Wright and Edward Elwick's partnership lasted from 1747 to 1771, and both subscribed to the first edition of Chippendale’s Director of 1754 and enjoyed patronage from a large number of country houses in Yorkshire and throughout the rest of England. Chippendale disparagingly alluded to 'the Ingenious Mr Elwick' in a letter to Sir Rowland Winn on 26th August 1767, which suggests that Elwick had some involvement at Nostell. Twelve mahogany dining chairs at Nostell [NT 959745] are also in the manner of Wright & Elwick.
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust by private treaty sale from Lord St Oswald in 2010.
Makers and roles
possibly Wright & Elwick (c. 1747 - 1824), cabinet maker