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GILLOWS (LOTS 306-321) The renowned firm of cabinet-makers, Gillows of Lancaster, was founded circa 1730 by Robert Gillow. The firm's reputation rests on the high quality furniture it produced in the second half of the eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. The firm's zenith was reached in the Regency period, and continued to prosper after the departure of the Gillow family from the business in 1813. The firm continued trading under their original name and received the Royal Warrant in 1863. Major commissions the firm carried out for country houses included Glynllifon, Caernarvonshire for the Barons Newborough, Hackwood Park, Hampshire for the Barons Bolton, Tatton Park, Cheshire for the Egertons and Sheffield Park, Sussex for the Earls of Sheffield. Gillows' designs are painstakingly recorded in the City of Westminster Archives. They begin in 1784 and continue to 1899 and comprise some 20,000 patterns for furniture. These designs were never published. The firm jealously protected their designs in order to guard their innovation and preserve the fashionable designs of their patrons. The style associated with Gillows is distinctive. They developed a coolness and restraint in their designs, which some have perhaps unfairly interpreted as 'austere'. Yet this has not prevented the firm's work being highly revered. Gillows' sober and restrained designs, their many multi-purpose pieces, the exceptionally high quality of timber and workmanship and the exclusivity of their patterns have ensured the firm's long lasting reputation as the quintessential English cabinet-making firm of the late 18th and 19th century.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY CHEST

BY GILLOWS, THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Details

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY CHEST
BY GILLOWS, THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
The rectangular moulded top above two short and three long part mahogany lined drawers with convex quarter fillets and original rosewood knob handles, on bun feet, one drawer stamped twice 'GILLOW', the other drawer with pencil signature 'J.Carrow' and also inscribed 'L'
33 in. (84 cm.) high; 38 in. (96.5 cm.) wide; 21½ in. (54.5 cm.) deep

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.

Lot Essay

J. Carrow may have been a cabinet-maker for the firm of Gillows, but he is not recorded in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book.
A chest of similar design, also by Gillows and signed by the cratsman Thomas Tasker (recorded working as a cabinet-maker in Gillows' Estimate Sketch Book between circa 1815-1825), was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 26 January 2007, lot 1045 (£4,500).

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