Beschreibung:

OF COLLECTORS' INTEREST: A William and Mary walnut, oyster veneered and sycamore banded chest1690-1705, the top with an ovolo edge and inlaid with concentric roundels and pollard oak, flanked by two circular tablets and quarter spandrels, above two short and three long graduated oak-lined drawers, on later (probably 18th century) bracket feet, 96cm wide x 59cm deep x 92cm high, (37 1/2in wide x 23in deep x 36in high)FootnotesProvenance The present lot formerly belonged to Ralph Edwards C.B.E., F.S.A. (1894-1977), grandfather of the current owner and vendor. A charming photograph showing Ralph Edwards with his wife Marjorie inside their London family home is available to view online at www.bonhams.com. Therein they are pictured seated in their elegant drawing room inside Suffolk House on Chiswick Mall, located close to the Thames. Visible among the beautiful antiques and paintings is the George I giltwood and gilt gesso mirror which is lot 127 in this sale. A copy of this striking photograph is available upon request. A further image of Edwards whilst he was in Venice is also on our website. Significantly, the offered chest is illustrated in R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, Vol. II, the revised and enlarged edition by R. Edwards, 2000, New York, fig. 29, p. 40. It is even noted in the Dictionary as being 'from Mr Ralph Edwards' and is dated therein to circa 1715, although it perhaps more accurately belongs to a slightly earlier era which is essentially 1690-1710. Ralph Edwards Although principally renowned for The Dictionary of English Furniture, his most influential book first published in the period 1924-1927, Ralph Edwards was also an art historian, academic, connoisseur, author and collector within various fields of the fine and decorative arts. His genuinely eclectic yet thorough knowledge included, but was not limited to, subjects as diverse as: European paintings, watercolours, Hogarth, Old Master drawings, bronze sculpture, needleworks, porcelain, silver and English miniatures. Nonetheless his foremost area of expertise was undoubtedly in English furniture. Following his involvement in World War I, and despite successfully completing the necessary professional legal examinations, Ralph Edwards joined Country Life magazine as a member of their editorial team, where he remained for five years. The motivations behind this career-defining decision are a mystery, however as Nicholas Goodison writes in his superb 1978 obituary it was clear that on this occasion: '...art history gained what the law lost.' N. Goodison, "Obituary, Ralph Edwards", The Burlington Magazine, May 1978, Vol. 120, No. 902, "Special Issue Devoted to the Victoria and Albert Museum", p. 316. Throughout 1924 and 1925, Edwards continued in this capacity at Country Life at the same time as working closely with Percy Macquoid (1852-1925) on compiling and creating what would thereafter become their seminal work, The Dictionary of English Furniture. Only one year later, Edwards took up the position of Assistant in the Department of Woodwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum, eventually being promoted to Keeper of that Department in 1937. In total he would retain this significant role for seventeen years until retiring, albeit apparently somewhat reluctantly, in 1954. During his tenure as Keeper at the Victoria and Albert, Ralph produced a number of books and articles concerning furniture, typically with particular attention to the history of English furniture. Arguably among the most notable of these were; a brief analysis of English chairs in the museum collection; Georgian Cabinet-Makers, which he assembled together with Margaret Jourdain in 1944; and the three volume revised edition of "The Dictionary", eventually published in 1954. In his obituary on Edwards, Nicholas Goodison brilliantly encapsulated his primary achievement as Keeper in the Department of Woodwork: 'In this role he [Edwards] did a great deal to raise the stud