This large satinwood and carved mahogony cabinet features painted design and lettering by Herbert Horne. The cabinet is one of the Century Guild’s most ambitious pieces of furniture and was part of its display at the Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition in 1887. It was reviewed in ‘The Journal of Decorative Art (November, 1887) where ‘the simplicity and largeness of design’ was praised.
The cabinet is similar in style to a large satinwood settle with drapery hangings and upholstered seat cushion in ‘The Angel with the Trumpet’ cretonne, formerly at Pownall Hall, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, home of Henry Boddington who commissioned furniture etc. for the house from The Century Guild in the 1880s; this settle is now in the V&A Museum. It is possible that this cabinet was intended for Pownall Hall, but for for some reason not used there and remained in Mackmurdo’s possession.
