A pair of late George III brass mounted rosewood, satinwood crossbanded and sycamore line-inlaid low corner display cabinets

Footnotes

Provenance
By family repute the present lot previously belonged to Henry and Sophia Hulton who resided at Bevois Mount House in Southampton during the period 1808-1840. Henry and Sophia Hulton were the ancestors of David Cameron, who served as Prime Minister between 2010-16. Thenceforth the current cabinets passed by descent to the current vendor's family.

Bevois Mount House was built in 1723 following the instructions of Charles Mordaunt, the 3rd Earl of Peterborough. The Earl, by marrying the opera singer Anastasia Robinson the previous year, was in fact the first aristocrat in Britain to ever marry a stage performer. Mordaunt, who had a generous spirit and inquiring mind, naturally sought the company of individuals with similar interests and intellectual abilities. As a result of this a wide variety of lauded contemporary figures visited Benois Mount House, included among these were the literary and philosophical giants: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire and Thomas Gray.

Of the many renowned people who visited the Earl of Peterborough at his Southampton property it appears Alexander Pope was the most frequent and seemingly most revered guest. It certainly helped that Pope, the creator of "The Dunciad" and "The Rape of the Lock", shared a passion for horticulture and also befriended the opera diva Anastasia Robinson who was the Earl's wife. With Pope's close collaboration, Mordaunt was even motivated to replace a gravel-filled hill with idyllic gardens lined with paths, one of which was later called 'Pope's Walk' in homage to the great poet. In 1734, while Pope was staying at Bevois Mount, which he had previously referred to as 'beautiful beyond imagination', he wrote a letter to the Earl of Oxford in which he described the estate as having:

'... the best Sea fish and River fish in the world, much tranquility, some Reading, no Politiques, admirable Melons, an excellent Bowling-green and Ninepin alley...'

And Pope also detailed the summerhouse at Bevois Mount in another letter to Arbuthnot during the same year:

I write this from the most beautiful Top of a Hill I ever saw, a little house that overlooks the Sea, Southampton & the Isle of Wight; where I study, write, and have what Leisure I please.'

Sadly, Pope's return to Bevois the following year was under completely changed circumstances. Both he and the Earl were in very poor health. Pope, who most of his life had a twisted body resulting from a tubercular disease that he had contracted when young, was suffering greatly and found it a struggle to travel. While the Earl, who had endured an unsuccessful operation to counteract a bout of the kidney stone, had asked his old friend to visit for the sake of some good company. Tragically Pope recounts the great pain and discomfort suffered by Charles Mordaunt in various letters he composed at that time.

Following Mordaunt's death in October 1735, Pope, who had pledged to the Earl that he would come back to the Estate in order to complete the landscaping works and maintain his friendship with Lady Peterborough, certainly fulfilled this vow up until his final trip to Bevois in 1740. Also the poet wore a watch, which had been given to him by the Earl, for the remainder of his own life, even having it appropriately inscribed in honour of Mordaunt. The watch itself had originally belonged to Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia, before the latter had gifted it to the former.

The House and its interior is wonderfully evoked in a passage taken from a publication called The Sporting Magazine in 1804:

'The approach to this earthly paradise is a noble lofty stone gateway; at each extremity is a small colonnade, once adorned with two beautiful marble figures, representing Spring and Summer... After a short winding walk I entered the mansion in Mount Bevois, celebrated for its internal beauties and conveniences. In the front parlour, I found four good marble statues - Bacchus, Apollo, Diana and Meleager - with a picture said to be original portraits of Columbus and his sons... some very valuable Roman remains, one of which, an altar piece, i send for your amusement.' https://bevoismounthistory.weebly.com/

Charles Sotheby, who was one of the midshipmen involved in the Battle of the Nile which took place in 1798, was another celebrated historical figure born at Bevois Mount. Towards the end of his lifetime of service within the Royal Navy, Sotheby attained the rank of Rear Admiral following notable involvement in both the Anglo-Turkish Wars and the Napoleonnic Wars, as well as participating in various campaigns to combat piracy.