Commissioned by Horace Walpole (1717–1797), Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, August 27, 1763; [1]
By descent to his cousin, Anne Seymour Damer (1748–1828), Strawberry Hill House, 1797 until 1811; [2]
By descent to his great-niece, Elizabeth Waldegrave (1760–1816), Strawberry Hill House, 1811;
By descent to her son, John James Waldegrave, 6th Earl Waldegrave (1785–1835), Strawberry Hill House, 1816;
By descent to his son, George Edward Waldegrave, 7th Earl Waldegrave (1816–1846), Strawberry Hill House, 1835;
Strawberry Hill Collection sale, Mr. George Robins, Twickenham, May 20, 1842, lot 89 or 90; [3]
Purchased by Charles Redfern (1797–1868), Warwick, England, May 20, 1842; [4]
Possibly his posthumous sale, Messrs. Frederick Coote & Co., Warwick, May 17, 1868, lot 908. [5]
[Basil Dighton, Partridge & Dighton, London, by 1924];
Sold to William Bowers Bourn (1857–1936), Filoli, Woodside, California, 1925;
Sold to William Philip Roth (1879–1963) and Lurline Matson Roth (1890–1985), Filoli, 1937; [6]
Bequest to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1985. [7]
[1] The Strawberry Hill Accounts list denotes: “1763. Aug. 27. pd Langlois for the two commodes & the two coins in the gallery - £73-10-0;” see Thornton and Rieder 1971, p. 285. The commode and its pair were displayed in The Gallery, the largest and most magnificent room in the House, per Walpole 1784: “Two commodes of old Japan with marble slabs…”
[2] Anne was the executor and legatee of Walpole’s estate. She lived between Strawberry Hill House and her main residence in London until it became too expensive to maintain both properties. In 1811, she bequeathed the house and its furnishings to Walpole’s closest relative, the Dowager Countess Elizabeth Waldegrave, per Gross, Jonathan David, “Biographical Note” and “Timeline,” in Belmour (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2011), p. IX, p. XVI.
[3] The pair of commodes were split into individual lots 89 and 90. Both were described in the auction catalogue as, “A splendid India Japan Commode or Cabinet, a remarkably fine specimen of the rare old black and gold India Japan, the subjects most beautifully raised, representing the various occupations and amusements of the Chinese, noble verd antique marble slab top, with richly chased ormolu scroll mountings, the door enclosing shelves.” See Mr. George Robins 1842, p. 235.
[4] See Mr. George Robins 1842 annotated catalogue in the Wallace Collection denoting “Redfern” on the left margin as the buyer for both lot 89 and 90. Charles Redfern (1797–1968) was an art dealer based in Warwick, where he also briefly served as Mayor. According to Mark Westgarth, “A Biographical Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Antique & Curiosity Dealers,” The Journal of the Regional Furniture Society 22 (2009), p. 154, Redfern bought at least 19 lots at the Strawberry Hill sale.
[5] Messrs. Frederick Coote & Co. 1868 describes lot 908 as, “A magnificent Commode, of the finest old japan lac, with sweep front and folding doors, enriched with or-molu mountings, verde antique top ; 3 ft. high, 4 ft. 6 in. wide, from Strawberry Hill.” Only one commode is listed in Redfern’s posthumous sale, so it is not currently known whether lot 908 corresponds to the commode at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco or the matching one in the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, Buenos Aires, Argentina collection.
[6] When the Roth’s bought the Filoli estate from the heirs of the Bourn family, the furnishings were included in the purchase, per correspondence with Lurline Matson Roth, December, 1971, curatorial file, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
[7] The commode was on long-term loan to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor from 1972 until its formal accession in 1985.
