A ROYAL GEORGE IV ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PARCEL-GILT MAPLE AND AMARANTH SIDE TABLE

Originally supplied as a 'wash-hand stand', fitted with a circular void for a wash-basin, and accompanied by a ewer, soap-boxes, carafe and tumblers, this table is now fitted with a marble top. It was supplied for the most westerly of the new Private Apartments at Windsor Castle designed under the direction of the architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville. It is recorded toward the end of cabinet-makers Morel and Seddon's commission, which ended with the death of George IV in 1830: their estimate is dated 1 February 1829. This table was in Room 254, whose furnishings were veneered in maple and inlaid with amaranth (or purplewood) while the adjacent rooms' (256 & 259) furnishings were veneered in maple and mahogany or simple mahogany. Interestingly, the mouldings attached to the edges of this table are inscribed identically to an en suite dressing-table at Windsor, perhaps indicating that in the course of rapid assembly of both pieces, some mouldings were transposed (Roberts, op. cit., p. 384 & fig. 462). Room 254 (the principal bedroom of this apartment) was hung with remade yellow silk curtains and the giltwood bed and its silk hangings re-used from furnishings originally supplied for Brighton Pavilion or Carlton House. Another wash-stand answering this description was supplied for Room 256, listed under Morel & Seddon's Account no. 1300 (ibid., pp. 378, 382 & 384). The inscriptions, inventory brand and inscribed inventory labels bear witness to the movement of this table within Windsor: while the table was originally supplied for Room 254, before 1866 it was moved to Room 233, another suite in Wyatville's refurbished Private Apartments. There is no Room 234 recorded at Windsor. A wash-stand, possibly this table, is illustrated in a photograph of c. 1880 of Room 251 (ibid., p. 372, fig. 458). A related satinwood and mahogany dressing-table, supplied for Room 210 in July 1828 was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 7 July 1988, lot 108 (£16,000). It was repurchased by the Royal Collection and is now at Windsor (ibid., p. 195, no. 456 & fig. 230).

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Provenance

Supplied in 1829 to King George IV (d. 1830), for Room 254, Windsor Castle and by descent at Windsor to
King William IV (d. 1837).
Queen Victoria (d. 1901) until after 1866.

Literature

N. Morel, Windsor Estimates, vol. 7, 1 February 1829, p. 324.
N. Morel & G. Seddon, Account Book, 1830, no. 1280: 'To a wash hand stand of fine maple wood highly polished, the top surmounted by a high panelled ledge terminating at the sides with carved scroll angles, the frieze with 2 drawers resting on circular columns with richly chased ormoulu foliage, capitals and bases and curved plinths, with shaped and panelled stretcher, and strong castors, the whole enriched with purple wood mouldings &c gilt in part in mat and burnished gold and fitted up with a large white and gold china bason, ewer, 2 soap boxes, a brush tray, a cut glass carafe, &c two tumblers'.
H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure: The Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London, 2001, p. 382 & 384 [under Room 254].