The Coventry House Cabinet
English, 1767
REF1064
A HIGHLY IMPORTANT CARVED MAHOGANY CABINET
Designed by Robert Adam. Made by John Cobb in his workshops at 72 St Martins Lane London in 1767. The carving probably by Sefferin Alken.
H 96.5cm, W 178.5cm, D 69cm
PROVENANCE
Made for George William, 6th Earl of Coventry, for Coventry House, London, 1767. At Coventry House or possibly Croome Court until (probably) 1854 and (probably) sold by auction that year.
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SHAREDESCRIPTION
This magnificent cabinet is one of four items made in the workshop of John Cobb in 1767. It was originally conceived as a much larger cabinet supplied by Cobb to the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1766. The following summer the original cabinet was dismantled and made into four smaller items, two from the upper part and two from the lower. Both the original cabinet and the subsequently redesigned cabinets were designed by Robert Adam. Three of the reconceived cabinets are known to survive: the two upper sections are in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Bradford Museums and Galleries. The present cabinet was originally conceived as the centre section while the press made from the bases of the two outer parts, has not yet been located.
The Coventry House cabinet was made for George William, 6th Earl of Coventry, in 1766. One of the two original Adam drawings, headed ‘Cloaths Press for the Earl of Coventry’, is dated 2 October 1764 (Fig. 4). Adam charged £7 7s for the drawings and a further £2 2s for full-scale drawings of the carved ornaments and mouldings.
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The Coventry House Cabinet
