A FINE GEORGE II CARVED MAHOGANY AND GILT BRONZE MOUNTED COMMODE OR SIDE TABLE, CIRCA 1750

A FINE GEORGE II CARVED MAHOGANY AND GILT BRONZE MOUNTED COMMODE OR SIDE TABLEATTRIBUTED TO JOHN CHANNON, CIRCA 175077cm high, 106cm wide, 60cm deepThis finely executed mahogany and brass mounted commode ordressing table is attributed to the London cabinet maker John Channon(1711-1783). Channon was apprenticed in 1726, at the age of fifteen, to hiselder brother Otho ‘of Exeter joiner’ and presumably completed his training in1733. In 1737, he set up a cabinet-making business in London ‘upon thePavement’ on the west-side of St Martin's Lane, later numbered 109.Channon's workmanship is strongly associated with brassinlay and brass mounting, displaying a strong Continental, often Germanic,influence, with émigré cabinet makers Frederick Hintz and Abraham Roentgenoccasionally wrongly attributed and cited (and vice versa) for furniture ofthis type and period. Resulting, documented commissions for Channon arelimited, and most often only attributed. Channon's most famousand well documented commission however is the Powderham Castle bookcases commissioned bySir William Courtenay in 1740. The 1993 publication John Channon andBrass-Inlaid Furniture 1730–1760 by C. Gilbert & T. Murdoch broughtconsiderable renewed attention to mid 18th century brass inlaid furniture andwas instrumental in crediting Channon to otherwise unknown or wronglyattributed works.The present lot belongs to what has been coined 'The Nymphand Satyr Group' ibid p. 86. The brass 'satyr' mounts are nearly identical to a number of other works attributed to Channon, such as a writing table, thought to be one of a pair for the window piers of the library at Powderham Castle, or for Fonthill Splendens, Wiltshire (The Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number W:4:1 to 23-1956) and The Murray Writing Cabinet at Temple Newsam House (ibid front cover and p. 88). The most closely comparable example to the present lot is a cabinet on stand once in possession with Moss Harris & Sons, circa 1924, which is illustrated ibid p. 98 fig. 112. The carved mahogany base and escutcheons are identical, with only minor variations to the 'satyr' mounts.Literature:C. Gilbert & T. Murdoch, John Channon and brass-inlaidfurniture 1730-1760, Yale and London, 1993.