Beschreibung:

Y AN INDIAN HARDWOOD AND IVORY INLAID CABINET GUJERAT OR SINDH, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY The doors enclosing nine drawers, the inlay to five sides, on a walnut notch carved stand in the Cotswold School taste The cabinet 25cm high, 38cm wide, 29cm deep; the stand 75cm high, 38.5cm wide, 30.5cm deep Provenance:Purchased by George Byng Esq MP (1764-1847) and by descent until sold, Christie's, London, Two Late Regency Collectors: Philip John Miles and George Byng, 9th June 2005, lot 173 where purchased by Robert Kime Literature: 5 St James's Square, 1847 Inventory: 'BACK DRAWING ROOM a small India Cabinet enclosed by 2 doors and drawers inside.' Cabinets of this general type, inlaid with flowers in ivory onto a hardwood ground were made in north western India, in the provinces of Gujarat or Sindh, from the late 16th century. A similar cabinet is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, but with a fall front. The use of doors in this example may denote a European commission, reflecting as it does the more usual use of doors on a cabinet (see: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115588/cabinet-unknown/ and A. Jaffer, Luxury Goods from India..., London, 2002, no. 25). The cabinet was bought by George Byng, whose collecting reflected high fashions of the 1820s -1840s, in company with great collectors such as George Watson Taylor, William Beckford and the king, George IV. Byng's manuscript 'List of Furniture, Porcelain, Paintings &C. purchased by George Byng for Wrotham Park, 1816-43', testifies to his avariciousness for superb objects, paintings and furniture. He lived at Wrotham Park, begun by his great-uncle, the unfortunate naval officer executed following the loss of Menorca in 1757, completed by his father George Byng (d. 1789) and extended by his son, the collector, George Byng MP (d. 1847). Saleroom notice:This lot contains elephant ivory and is therefore subject to both CITES regulations and the UK Ivory Act 2018. Goods containing African elephant ivory cannot be imported to the USA, while other countries have in place wide-ranging restrictions on exporting and importing property containing elephant ivory. Prospective buyers are advised to familiarise themselves with the export and import restrictions prior to bidding. We will not be able to cancel your purchase if your lot may not be exported, imported or it is seized for any reason by a government authority. Dreweatts have applied for a de minimis exemption licence for the ivory in this lot (Ref: KCT1C37J)