H. Blairman & Sons Ltd

Designed by E. W. Godwin (1833-86)

The manufacture probably by Collinson & Lock (1870-97)

Ebonised mahogany, with gilt-leaded glass and brass handles

164 x 78 x 47.4 cm

English (London), circa 1875

With H. Blairman & Sons, 1995; Saretta Barnet until 2017

Cynthia Zarin, ‘New York State of Mind’, Architectural Digest, March 1999, p. 114 (showing the cabinet in situ in the apartment designed by Thad Hayes)

Susan Weber Soros, The Secular Furniture of E.W. Godwin, 1999, probably 331-a

Susan Moore, ‘Window into the creative mind’, Financial Times, 2 December 2017 (on Howard and Saretta Barnet as collectors)

Susan Weber (intro.), E.W. Godwin FURNITURE, 2018, no. 11

Private collection

It has been suggested that the design might be one of the three display cabinets supplied by Godwin to Collinson & Lock in 1873 (Soros, 1999, pp. 206-07).

A closely related rosewood cabinet of this form, with more elaborate brassware (acquired from Blairman for a private collection) is stamped Collinson & Lock (Soros, 1999, no. 331). Mitchell Wolfson Jnr acquired another cabinet, identical to the present example for the Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, Florida (Soros, 1999, no. 331-b).