Lot 58
EDWARD WILLIAM GODWIN (1833-1886) OR GEORGE FREETH ROPER (1843-92)
AESTHETIC MOVEMENT WALNUT SIDE CABINET, CIRCA 1880
Paul Reeves: An Eye for Design feat. Textiles as Art II | 548
Auction: 14 February 2019 at 11:00 GMT
Description
with two glazed and leaded panel doors with brass fixtures below an open shelf with pierced side brackets, the rectangular top and mirrored back above two drawers on shaped styled supports linked by a stretcher
Dimensions
83.5cm wide, 224.5cm high, 40cm deep
Footnote
Literature: Soros, Susan Weber 'Aesthetic Movement Architect and Designer' Yale University Press, 1999, p. 209, no. 333; p. 226-7, plates 369 and 369.1; p. 199 pl. 319; p. 188 pl. 309.II.
Note: George Freeth Roper was, for a brief period, assistant to E.W. Godwin and was strongly influenced by him, so the designer of this piece has details used by both. Freeth Roper worked for Collinson & Lock, Gillow & Co. & Kendal Milne & Co after he had left Godwin's employ and produced Anglo-Japanese designs for these firms. Bookcases and cabinets by Freeth Roper can be found in 'The British Architect' vols 10 (1878) and 15 (1881), and in 'Building News' in 1873 and 1878.
What is clear in the present example are several compelling Godwin characteristics including the curved and extending tapered uprights on the upper section, the ring handles with square backplates and the brass strap hinges and moulded timber elements. The pierced circular openings on the tapered uprights also can be seen in a sketch by Godwin for a drawing room cabinet of circa 1874 (V&A PD E. 235-1963, fol. 32), and are not noted in any of Freeth Roper's designs.
This is one of only two examples of this cabinet known, the other is held in a private collection in the UK. Significantly, the other cabinet is ebonised, again a characteristic finish often used by Godwin but not known in any designs recorded by Freeth Roper.