A GEORGE II MAHOGANY READING-STAND

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Details

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY READING-STAND
The moulded rectangular hinged racheted top with removable reading- stop, above a turned stem with further lifting mechanism, the lower part of the stem of simple ring-turned baluster form, on channelled cabriole legs and scroll feet with leather castors, the reading-stop probably replaced, the turned boss capital immediately beneath the top slightly reduced in height and originally with a further turned section at the junction with the top of the stem
26¾ in. (68 cm.) high; 20 in. (51 cm.) wide; 16¾ in. (42.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Anonymous sale, in these Rooms, 15 July 1982.
Bought from Norman Adams, 5 January 1983.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Patterns for related 'Reading or Music Desks', with 'tops that fall down upon one another', were issued in John Mayhew and William Ince's Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762. Related furniture was supplied by Thomas Chippendale for Nostell Priory, Yorkshire. One was included in an inventory of March 1767 as 'A neat mahogany musick desk on a pillar and Claw to rise at pleasure' and the other in January 1769 as 'A mahogany reading desk to rise out of a pillar and Claw' (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, pp. 184 and 188).

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