Lot 10

THE PROPERTY OF THE WILBRAHAM FAMILY (Lots 10-23) The Wilbraham furniture, dating from the second half of the 18th Century, are likely to have been commissioned by George Wilbraham (d. 1813), who served as High Sheriff of Cheshire. In 1784 he built Delamere House, an elegant stone villa at Cuddington, to the designs of Samuel Wyatt (d. 1807) a member of the celebrated architectural dynasty headed by James Wyatt (d. 1813). Like a number of houses executed under Wyatt's direction, some of the furnishings were provided by Gillows of London and Lancaster, whose Estimate Sketch Book for July 1785 includes George Wilbraham's library-table costed at £4.13.0 (Westminster Library, no. 493, p. 213). A 'sheveret' writing-table supplied to George Wilbraham features in their Estimate Sketch Book for June 1788 costed at £1.11.6½ and, apart from the tray-stretcher, corresponds to lot 11. The Pembroke table en suite (lot 10) and breakfast or 'snap' table (lot 19) with its corresponding 'purple'-wood ribbon inlay were no doubt supplied at the same time. However the cluster-columned bed (lot 18) is in the Gothic style popularised by Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Directors, published between 1754 and 1762, and this together with the night-table commodes (lots 12 and 13) and the clothes-press (lot 20) may have been acquired in the previous decade at the time of Wilbraham's marriage to Maria Harvey in 1774. The light fittings, such as the Roman bronze lamp (lot 17) and Gothic chandelier (lot 23) reflect the fashionable styles of George IV's Regency and are likely to have been introduced by George Wilbraham M.P. (d. 1852). In 1938 Captain George H. Wilbraham replaced Delamere House with a neo-Georgian brick house named Delamere Manor, and the furniture was moved from there to Sweet Briar Hall.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY PEMBROKE TABLE

ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS

Details

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY PEMBROKE TABLE
Attributed to Gillows
Inlaid overall with boxwood and ebony lines, the crossbanded oval twin-flap top above a bowed frieze on turned tapering fluted legs with stiff-leaf capitals, brass caps and castors, inscribed in pencil to the underside 'JD6609', some pitting to the flaps
42 in. (107 cm.) wide, open; 26½ in. (67.5 cm.) high; 30¼ in. (77 cm.) deep

Provenance

Almost certainly supplied to George Wilbraham (d. 1813) for Delamere House, Cheshire.
Thence by descent in the Wilbraham family, latterly of Sweet Briar Hall, Cheshire.

Lot Essay

The medallion-topped Pembroke or Breakfast Table, with its fluted and palm-capped columnar legs and ribbon-band inlay, is designed en suite with the sheveret table (lot 11) and is also likely to have been supplied in 1788 by Gillows of London and Lancaster for George and Maria Wilbraham's bedroom apartments at Delamere House, Cheshire.

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