Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
NEW YORK
A REGENCY CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO HENRY HOLLAND
LITERATURE:
Huon Mallalieu, The Illustrated History of Antiques, Quarto Publishing plc,
London, 1991.
F2H0353
HENRY HOLLAND (1745-1806)
Henry Holland was one of the leading English Georgian architects who
designed interiors and furniture in both the French and the Greco-Roman
styles and therefore a key figure in the introduction of late 18th century
French Neo-classicism into English furniture design. After studying
architecture, he became the partner of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in 1771
whose daughter Bridget he married and with whom he built Claremont
House in Esher, Surrey (1771-4).
The English aristocracy, led by the fun-loving Prince Regent, keenly followed
the fashions in Paris. A dwarf cabinet designed by Holland illustrated below
may be closely related to commodes by the Parisian ébenistes Claude-
Charles Saunier (1735-1807), Jean Henre Riesener (1734-1806) and German-
born Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820). The French inspiration is shown in
the richly figured veneers, delicate ormolu mounts, gilded columns and
marble tops.
Cabinets such as the one currently offered by Mallett often had doors
lined with pleated silk and sometimes as here, the door frames contained
wire grilles. Rosewood was a popular wood with cabinetmakers during the
Regency period, when timbers employed were dark in order to show off
the finished brass and ormolu mounts to maximum effect. The type of
rosewood used derives from the Brazilian blacktree or ‘Dalbergia Nigra’,
now a highly endangered species. It is of a slow growth and can reach
heights of eighty feet with a base diameter of five feet. The distinctive
black streaks are created by close growth rings within the rosewood. The
wood is hard and uniform in texture, which gives the finished piece a
smooth and lustrous look.
www.mallettantiques.com