The ormolu mounted tulipwood, sycamore, amaranth and satinwood marquetry commode with a lava and specimen marble top, the marquetry panels after engravings in Le Antichità di Ercolano.

The shaped serpentine top inset with lava and various specimen marbles, the frieze and cabinet doors of the serpentine case with a trailing laurel garland and pelta, inlaid after engravings from Le Antichità di Ercolano, vol. II 1760, the ribbon-tied oval medallions representing the muses Thalia, Melopene, Terpsichore and Erato, the frieze panels copied directly from numbered engravings, the doors opening to a fitted interior with a pair of mahogany-lined drawers over later adjustable shelves, with Ford Inventory No.E-4.

This striking commode is a unique testament to the archaeological neo-classical spirit of the late 18th century and to the legacy of Charles Townley (1737-1805), one of the era’s greatest antiquarians and collectors. The entire commode, from its precious hardstone and lava top purchased on one of his Grand tours to the designs for the neo-classical panels which came from Townley’s personal copy of Le Antichità di Ercolano is the epitome of his passion for antiquities. It is also perhaps the ultimate demonstration of the refined aesthetic seen in an elite group of Grand Tourists who commissioned furniture to incorporate the treasures they collected abroad.

Born into a wealthy Catholic Lancashire family, Townley’s first Grand Tour to Italy in 1767 sparked what became an enduring love for the study and collection of Antiquities. He made two subsequent Grand Tours between 1771-1774 and in 1777. He was an enthusiastic collector and a compulsive buyer; when he wasn’t traveling, Townley was in the London salerooms or working with agents in Rome and Naples to acquire more works. His vast collection which was mainly displayed in his house in Park Street soon became a major attraction in London and was captured in Zoffany’s portrait of Townley from around 1781. It depicts Townley among his collection in the company of his fellow Antiquarians, including Baron d’Hancarville (1719-1805) who has Townley’s copy of Le Antichitá di Ercolano open at his feet. (J. Habetzeder, ‘The Impact of Restoration: The Example of the Dancing Satyr in the Uffizi,’ Opuscula Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, November 2012, p. 146). After Townley’s death, over 8000 works from his collection including his famed marbles went to the British Museum where they remain today. In a fitting final coda to Townley’s collecting this Zoffany painting was consigned by Lord O’Hagan along with the commode and sold a few weeks earlier at Christie’s, London, 19 May 1939, lot 92.

The design combines the prevailing influence of French forms and the emerging fashion for neo-classical ornament. Its serpentine top is formed of rare volcanic lava specimens within a marble ground. Detailed records of Townley’s Grand Tours indicate he first went to Naples in 1768 and again in 1772 so it was almost certainly bought during one of those visits. Although the vast majority of these lava tops are rectangular in form, two other shaped tops which closely relate to this top were acquired by King Carlos III in 1759-60 which are attributed to Giovanni Atticanti, a marble worker employed by the Royal court which also must have been the source for this top. (A. González-Palacios, Las Colecciones Reales Españolas de Mosaicos Y Pedras Duras, Madrid, 2001, pp.272-75). Townley’s fellow Grand Tourist, Brownlow Cecil (1725-1793), 9th Earl of Exeter brought back several rectangular tops that are closely related if not almost identical in composition. He commissioned the London cabinet-makers Ince and Mayhew to make one of the table bases for them which he then presented to the British Museum in 1764 (1764.0928.1); the other two tables with their specimen marble tops and bases by Fell and Newton remain at Burghley, Lincolnshire.

Though the illusionistic marquetry of the rosette issuing a trailing laurel garland at the center and the distinctive pelta at the apron are seen stylistically in the work of Ince and Mayhew, the entirely different handling of the frieze panels and Classical medallions indicate it was clearly the work of an émigré cabinet-maker such as Georg Haupt or Christopher Furlohg. The medallions and frieze panels were directly copied from Le Antichità di Ercolano, vol. II (1760) an eight volume set of engravings published between 1757-1792 which depict the findings from the excavations that occurred under the Bourbons around the Gulf of Naples, including Pompeii, Stabiae, and two sites in Herculaneum: Resina and Portici. The oval panels represent plates III (Thalia), IV (Melpomene), V (Terpsichore)and VI (Erato); the frieze panels correspond to the Arabic numbered plates 21, 33, 67 and 209.

However, what is most important about the use of these engravings from Le Antichità di Ercolano and its presence in Townley’s portrait by Zoffany is that it documents Townley’s direct involvement with the commode’s commission. Le Antichità di Ercolano was an exclusive publication by the Accademia Ercolanese. Established in 1755 under the patronage of Charles VII of Naples to preserve and study the findings from Herculaneum and Pompei, these volumes were not sold but given to specifically chosen recipients. Only Charles Townley could have provided this volume to the cabinet-maker and with his deep knowledge of antiquities, very likely chose the specific plates to be used on this commode.

Although no other commode featuring neo-classical panels is such an academically documented or directed version of the ‘Antique’ aesthetic, a few other examples are known to exist. They include a commode probably supplied to the Duchess of Beaufort in the 1780s for her Berkeley Square house with panels taken from Volume I of Pierre-François Hugues (Baron d’Hancarville), Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the cabinet of the Hon.ble W.m Hamilton, published in Naples in 1767 (L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1992, pp..232-34, figs. 221-26). Another commode which may have come from this suite is illustrated in is illustrated in P. Macquoid, The Age of Satinwood, London, 1908, vol. 4, fig. 158 as the property of A. Hall.