A George II mahogany bureau bookcase by John FranklinA George II mahogany bureau bookcase by John FranklinCirca 1750, the ovolo moulded cornice above a pair of geometric astragal glazed panelled doors, enclosing three adjustable shelves, over a fall enclosing six pigeon holes, six oak-lined drawers, two lockable fluted pilaster bookends and a central shaped panelled door, above lopers and four long graduated oak-lined drawers, on shaped bracket feet, enclosing the cabinet maker's paper label which reads: 'John Franklin, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer, the Sign of the Chair in Bell Court, Doctor's Common, London, Makes and Sells all Sorts of Chairs, Cabinets...', the Rococo mounts apparently original, 96cm wide x 55cm deep x 206cm high, (37 1/2in wide x 21 1/2in deep x 81in high)A John Franklin is listed in 1803 as a subscriber to Thomas Sheraton's "Cabinet Dictionary", Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840, ed. by G. Beard and C. Gilbert, 1986, Leeds, p. 319. However, given the 1803 date, it is very unlikely that this is actually the same individual responsible for the offered lot, which is dated circa 1750. Also it must be noted that the address for this particular cabinet maker is unrecorded. A far more plausible analysis is that the John Franklin who made the present bureau bookcase is the one documented as working in the capacity of a 'turner' in 1730, in Upton, Buckinghamshire. And it is then certainly conceivable that the latter moved to London after an initial period as a 'turner' to become a cabinet maker in his own right. bifmo.history.ac.uk