Bureau
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1730
Materials
Lacquer, giltwood, brass handles
Measurements
244 x 145 x 64 cm
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire
NT 1331882
Summary
A black lacquer and Chinoiserie decorated bureau cabinet with shrine, Chinese, circa 1730. The upper section with elaborate moulded and double-arched pediment, above a pair of doors opening to reveal an elaborately fitted interior with a stepped shrine and balconies, gilt columns and lattice screens, the steps and upper parts are drawers, below this are five larger drawers in two rows, in total thirty drawers, all decorated with flowers and birds and enclosed by a pair of doors with a lock, the inside surfaces depicting bamboo shoots, the outside depicting Chinese scenes, the lower section with sloping lid enclosing a fitted interior of pigeonholes and eleven drawers around a central door, the two either side of the door being thin and tall, and a further three long drawers of arc-en-arbelette outline, each with two handles, and a shaped apron, standing on small flattened bun feet. In notebook no.6, page 7 (NT 1340945.6) Charles Wade refers to: 'The Blue Room 9. CHINESE LACQUER BUREAU c.1720' followed by detailed (and partly illegible) plan and description.
Provenance
Bought from Fortnum and Mason Ltd on 6 November 1944 for £95. Given to the National Trust with Snowshill Manor in 1951 by Charles Paget Wade.
References
Wade, 1946: Charles Paget Wade, Contents of Snowshill Manor. Volume 6 The Blue Room, 1946, page 7