A MAHOGANY BOOKCASE'PEPYSIAN' TYPE, SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY233cm high, 130cm wide, 45cm deepAn unusual feature of this bookcase is that the profile of the glazing bars of the upper section has also been used to bisect the panels of the lower section.The profile of the thick glazing bars also suggests dating the bookcase to the second quarter of the 18th century. The same profile of glazing bars is present to the windows of several Spitalfields houses of the period. In addition the use of mahogany is evident in the construction of the documented staircase at 4-6 Fournier Street, Spitalfields. Mahogany was also known to have been used at Houghton Hall and various churches at this early period.For further discussion and evidence of the early mahogany trade and use of the timber, See Adam Bowett, The English mahogany trade 1700-1793, thesis, 1996. This bookcase is similar in form to the 'Pepys Bookcase' first made by the Master Joiner Thomas Simpson (alias Sympson the Joiner) for the naval administrator and diarist Samuel Pepys to house his vast collection of books at his residence at Seething Lane, London. It is possible that Pepys himself had a hand in the design of the original bookcase. For a related example of bookcase, see Adam Bowet, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Antiques Collectors Club, 2009, page 133, plate 3:75.
A MAHOGANY BOOKCASE'PEPYSIAN' TYPE, SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY233cm high, 130cm wide, 45cm deepAn unusual feature of this bookcase is that the profile of the glazing bars of the upper section has also been used to bisect the panels of the lower section.The profile of the thick glazing bars also suggests dating the bookcase to the second quarter of the 18th century. The same profile of glazing bars is present to the windows of several Spitalfields houses of the period. In addition the use of mahogany is evident in the construction of the documented staircase at 4-6 Fournier Street, Spitalfields. Mahogany was also known to have been used at Houghton Hall and various churches at this early period.For further discussion and evidence of the early mahogany trade and use of the timber, See Adam Bowett, The English mahogany trade 1700-1793, thesis, 1996. This bookcase is similar in form to the 'Pepys Bookcase' first made by the Master Joiner Thomas Simpson (alias Sympson the Joiner) for the naval administrator and diarist Samuel Pepys to house his vast collection of books at his residence at Seething Lane, London. It is possible that Pepys himself had a hand in the design of the original bookcase. For a related example of bookcase, see Adam Bowet, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Antiques Collectors Club, 2009, page 133, plate 3:75.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
