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Rare George II Carved Mahogany Four-Door Breakfront Secretaire Bookcase

$116,052.29List Price

About the Item

Mr John Leech, Devizes, Wiltshire John Leech worked at The Gazette Herald for 45 years as a journalist and lived in Devizes all his life. He was a member of the Devizes Amateur Dramatic Society and the productions he got involved with were of the farcical variety. Mr Leech’s roots in Devizes ran deep. His father and grandfather were medical superintendents of Wiltshire’s lunatic asylum now Roundabout Hospital. Mr Leech was brought up on the hospital site and wrote two books about it, ‘The Lunatic Years’ and ‘Inside Out’. He took a job as cub reporter on the Gazette in 1989 at the age of 19 after he was turned down for military service on health grounds. He would regularly cover proceedings at Devizes Assize Court. Mr Leech retired in 18985 and died at the age of 92. Description The exceptional carving to the stepped breakfront pediment is a combination of architectural patterns. The crisply carved darts above the vitruvian wave or ‘sea scroll’ moulding is raised on a carved acanthus leaf concave moulding with a complicated blind fret frieze raised on a triple edge moulding. The astragal glazed doors have later 18th Century locks and open to reveal adjustable shelves. The bookcase sits above a crisply carved moulded edge with acanthus leaf decorated to each corner. The lower section with a fitted secretaire drawer sits above the centre cupboard with doors and is fitted with trays and a full length drawer. The centre section is flanked by single drawers above a panelled cupboard door concealing a bank of drawers. The secretaire bookcase sits on a crisply carved gardrooned moulded plinth base and breaks down into seven pieces. It carries the original gilt brass swan neck handles and is in excellent o verall condition. Maker: William Hallett, Great Newport Street, Longacre, London. Cabinet Maker (Born Circa 1707 died 1781) William Hallett worked extensively for Anthony Ashley-Cooper 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (1710-1771) at St Giles House, Wimborne, Dorset. The Earl employed William Hallett, the highly fashionable cabinet maker and upholsterer of Great Newport Street, to supply chairs and dining room furniture for his house between 1745-1752. Four payments to Hallett are recorded in the St. Giles household accounts book for the years 1732-1757. William Hallett made furniture from about 1730, with work for Lord Irwin as his first recorded commission (1735), until the early 1750s. William Hallett acted as ‘sleeping partners’ in the firm Vile Cobb. This is attested by payments and receipts in the Hallett, Vile Cobb bank accounts, Drummonds Branch. In 1753 William Hallett moved his business from Great Newport Street to St. Martin’s Lane. He took premises next to Vile Cobb’s. Two years later his name is crossed through in the rate books (Westminster Reference Library) and Cobb’s is inserted. William Hallett was commissioned by many of the landed gentry of the day and his work can be seen at some of the houses listed below. Temple Newsam House, Leeds - 7th Viscount Irwin 1736 (Made for the London House initially in 1735) Holkham Hall, Norfolk – 1st Earl of Leicester 1737 Badmington, Gloucestershire - 4th Duke of Beaufort 1740 Ditchley Park, Oxon – 2nd Earl of Litchfield 1742 Wilton House,Wiltshire – 7th Earl of Pembroke 1742 Strawberry Hill, Middlesex – Horace Walpole 1755 Commissions for Augusta, Princess of Wales at various locations 1740 (Windsor Royal Archives)

Dimensions:
Height: 230 in (584.2 cm)Width: 210 in (533.4 cm)Depth: 50 in (127 cm)
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
Mid-18th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1745
Condition:
Seller Location:
Bradford on Avon, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU95992580592