Lot Essay
The hexagonal tea-table, conceived in the George III Roman fashion, has mosaic-chequered ribbon framing its segmental-parquetried top, while its pillar has a serpentined tripod 'claw', with volute-footed trusses enriched with Gothic-cusped flutes.
The fluted pillar with its reeded vase relates to a pedestal pattern in James Gibbs's, Book of Architecture, l728 (pl. 148). In l764 Thomas Chippendale (d. l779) supplied two related tables, veneered in amber-coloured 'Guadelupe' mahogany for Sir Lawrence Dundas's London mansion in Arlington Street (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, pp.156 and l59 and vol. II, fig. 470). Their vases were acanthus-wrapped, and their pillars, rather than 'claws', were fluted. However Chippendale adopted related Gothic-cusped flutes for a firescreen 'claw' supplied in the mid-l770s for Newby Hall, Yorkshire (ibid., pp. 265-6 and fig. 334).
A 'Harewood' drawing, which is attributed to Chippendale and dates from the early l770s, also depicts a related tea-table 'claw' with plinth-supported trusses (ibid., p. 203 and fig. 464). The latter also featured on a pattern for basin stands and a tea-kettle stand in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, l762, 3rd ed., pl. LV.
A closely related satinwood tripod table, with similar Gothic panelled legs, was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 7 July 1994, lot 68. Another related table was sold by the late N.M.L. Watson, Esq., in these Rooms, 21 November 1985, lot 52 and a further rosewood table was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 18 November 1994, lot 107.
The fluted pillar with its reeded vase relates to a pedestal pattern in James Gibbs's, Book of Architecture, l728 (pl. 148). In l764 Thomas Chippendale (d. l779) supplied two related tables, veneered in amber-coloured 'Guadelupe' mahogany for Sir Lawrence Dundas's London mansion in Arlington Street (see C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, pp.156 and l59 and vol. II, fig. 470). Their vases were acanthus-wrapped, and their pillars, rather than 'claws', were fluted. However Chippendale adopted related Gothic-cusped flutes for a firescreen 'claw' supplied in the mid-l770s for Newby Hall, Yorkshire (ibid., pp. 265-6 and fig. 334).
A 'Harewood' drawing, which is attributed to Chippendale and dates from the early l770s, also depicts a related tea-table 'claw' with plinth-supported trusses (ibid., p. 203 and fig. 464). The latter also featured on a pattern for basin stands and a tea-kettle stand in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, l762, 3rd ed., pl. LV.
A closely related satinwood tripod table, with similar Gothic panelled legs, was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 7 July 1994, lot 68. Another related table was sold by the late N.M.L. Watson, Esq., in these Rooms, 21 November 1985, lot 52 and a further rosewood table was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 18 November 1994, lot 107.