Research:
Of painted and parcel gilt wood. The upper section in the form of a large ovoid cabinet painted in shades of puce with scenes of Saint Lucia, topped by a giltwood flame finial and a supported on carved foot of undulating shape with rope twist around the waist and raised on a square plinth, opening to a hollow interior cavity. The lower section formed as a square pedestal with door that opens to reveal two shelves, on parcel-gilt molded leaf and faux veined black marble painted plinth.
Marks:
Signed to the reverse
G.R. RUST
1980
Provenance:
George Williams CBE MC DL, Llanharan House, Glamorgan, Wales.
David Wilton, The Firs, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.
This unique (cocktail) cabinet was designed and painted in 1980 by the celebrated English muralist and trompe l’oeil painter Graham Redgrave Rust (b. 1942). Murals by this internationally renowned artist are found in over 40 country houses, estates and public buildings worldwide.
The cabinet, of unusual ovoid form, was commissioned from Rust by George Mervyn Williams CBE MC DL of Llanharan House in Mid Glamorgan, Wales (1918–2013), and takes as its subject a West Indian landscape inspired by a visit to Saint Lucia made by Rust in the 1970s. The piece was named after his young guide on the trip, Anthony St. Remy.
Full research report available on request.