Pair of English Regency Rosewood Bookcase Cabinets att. John McLean c. 1820

PAIR OF REGENCY ROSEWOOD CHIFFONIER CABINETS IN THE MANNER OF JOHN MCLEAN
London, circa 1810

59" H x 12" D x 36 1/8" W

Rosewood, rosewood veneers, pine, brass, gilt-bronze

A pair of Regency rosewood cabinets of very fine quality, each with a pierced gilt bronze gallery around the upper shelf, the gallery worked with repeating fleur de lis ornament. The elevated bookshelf section is framed by brass lattice side panels with floral rosettes at each juncture and slender brass colonnettes with simplified neoclassical capitals and bases above a pair of small frieze drawers.

Below the upper section, each cabinet is fitted with a stepped out full-width drawer over a pair of enclosed cupboard doors. The doors are centered by oval brass stringing, a restrained detail that draws attention to the richly figured rosewood veneers. The rosewood has been carefully selected and arranged with dramatic mirrored grain patterns repeated across both cabinets to create a balanced pair. Note that the veneers have been harvested from the same source plank for the facades of both cabinets.

Each cabinet is raised on turned tapered feet.

For a similar form, see "Regency Furniture" by Francis Collard (Woodbridge, p.145).

JOHN MCLEAN & SON
John McLean & Son was a London cabinetmaking and upholstery firm active from about 1770 to 1825. Its origins are traced to Little Newport Street, near Leicester Square, where “Jno M’Clean cabinet maker” is recorded in 1774; the firm later moved to Upper Marylebone Street, and also used premises at Pancras Street and Upper Terrace, Tottenham Court Road around the turn of the century.

The firm is especially associated with Regency rosewood furniture, brass mounts, brass inlay, satinwood banding, and French inspired forms. Its trade cards advertised “Elegant Parisian Furniture,” and Thomas Sheraton included McLean among the master cabinetmakers listed in his Cabinet Dictionary of 1803.

McLean’s furniture is known for richly figured veneers, refined neoclassical structure, and a distinctive form in his cast and chased brass mounts. Labelled examples are scarce but sufficient to allow related unlabelled pieces to be attributed to the workshop.

The firm supplied furniture to aristocratic patrons, including the 5th Earl of Jersey for Middleton Park, Oxfordshire, and the Earl’s London house in Berkeley Square. Documented and attributed examples are held by institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Trust at Saltram.

After John McLean’s death around 1815, the firm was run by his son William. The business declined, with financial distress recorded by 1819 and bankruptcy by 1822; the final recorded entry for William McLean is in 1825.

Condition: Some veneer fillings and patches (outward edge of shelf wrapping around middle of cabinet: proper right back corner 2" veneer patch, front edge 2" patch, proper left 1/2" patch). One cabinet missing small piece of veneer proper left top shelf at backmost edge. Checking and minor blemish to the polished shellac surface on both, some cloudiness. Both top-most shelves with a circular whitening to the shellac, likely where a vase sat too long. Shelves inside cabinets have been moved over the years. Other minor scuffs and blemishes. Very attractive and ready to place.

ref. 604GYP01S