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Lot Essay
The model for this modern copy is undoubtedly that sold by French and Company at Christie's New York, 24 November 1998, lot 65 ($332,500). The French & Co. table's fret-enriched frieze, picturesque cartouche and Gothic 'cut through' feet feature in a 'Sideboard Table' pattern issued in the first edition of Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director, 1754, pl. LX. Although by no means unique, Chippendale's Director, published in three editions between 1754 and 1762 and sold for the comparatively high price of £2.8.0, was arguably the most influential pattern-book of the period. Subscribed to by both patrons and cabinet-makers alike, including London makers such as William Gordon, the Channons, James Rannie and William Ince, as well those from Provincial centres such as Thomas Malton of Nottingham, Messrs. Wright and Elwick of Wakefield and Robert Barker of York, it inspired the oeuvre of cabinet-makers throughout England and beyond.
The distinctive foot-pattern displayed on the French & Co. table also featured on a table acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 1949 (W.41-1949), as well as on a companion table sold anonymously at Christie's London, 3 July 1997, lot 140 and illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 217.
P. Macquoid, in his celebrated book The Age of Mahogany, wrote of the French & Co. table:- 'Fig. 205 is what Chippendale names a 'Gothic sideboard-table'....in design a mixture of the French and Gothic tastes.....The design for this table without the columns is given in plate lx. of the Director; these were, no doubt, an afterthought, as the perforation of the legs might have looked empty without this addition. The colour of this fine table is a warm cinnamon, and the wood has never been polished or varnished.'
The distinctive foot-pattern displayed on the French & Co. table also featured on a table acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 1949 (W.41-1949), as well as on a companion table sold anonymously at Christie's London, 3 July 1997, lot 140 and illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 217.
P. Macquoid, in his celebrated book The Age of Mahogany, wrote of the French & Co. table:- 'Fig. 205 is what Chippendale names a 'Gothic sideboard-table'....in design a mixture of the French and Gothic tastes.....The design for this table without the columns is given in plate lx. of the Director; these were, no doubt, an afterthought, as the perforation of the legs might have looked empty without this addition. The colour of this fine table is a warm cinnamon, and the wood has never been polished or varnished.'