Daniel Cottier – Aesthetic Movement Painted Egyptian Revival Side Cabinet/Desk with Drawers
POA
Width: 48.03 in (122 cm)
Depth: 23.62 in (60 cm)
1870-1879
About this piece
Daniel Cottier, a rare, probably unique Egyptian Revival side cabinet/Desk with a moulded edge and a central turned support below, with conforming half-turned supports to each side in front of an open storage area, flanked by twin drawers to the right and a large deep single drawer to the left, the front of which is designed to look like two drawers, keeping the overall Aesthetic balance of the view from the front. Restrained yet highly stylised hand-painted decoration to the front, sides and back with highlights to the legs and attenuated turned discs. The legs are united by conforming side stretchers that in turn are united by an unusual central stretcher made from brass.
The side cabinet matches a desk clearly from the same suite of furniture that was misattributed to E. W. Godwin and illustrated in Elizabeth Aslin’s early book on Godwin. Its form and decoration, including the unusual attenuated discs and central stretcher made from brass, all correspond exactly.
There are direct relationships with the painted decoration of the scrollwork finials decorated to the back and the sides where they share the same curls, including the star decoration to the upper corners. With this side cabinet you can see the painted detail of the sun in its entirety, painted within the square, and cornered by the four little dots, conforming to the sun detail behind the handle on the desk illustrated in Aslin’s book.