A GEORGE III MAHOGANY AND PLUM-PUDDING MAHOGANY ARCHITECT'S DESK

ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1790

Details

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY AND PLUM-PUDDING MAHOGANY ARCHITECT'S DESK
Attributed to Gillows, Circa 1790
The crossbanded double-ratched tooled green leather-inset top with a molded edge above a long mahogany-lined frieze drawer enclosing a sliding green velvet-lined writing surface enclosing a central open compartment flanked to each side by two lidded compartments and a third hidden compartment alphabetically labelled within oval reserves, over a kneehole flanked by panelled doors enclosing three drawers with brass bail-pulls, each on a molded plinth base, with a Cavendish House, Cheltenham printed depository label, with the pencil inscription 269, with the white chalk inscription A8854
31½in. (80cm.) high, 43¼in. (110cm.) wide, 25¼in. (64cm.) deep

Lot Essay

The design of this desk with its alphabetized drawers relates to patterns published by Gillows, such as the 'bureau writing-table' with double-ratcheted top executed for the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1789 and a writing-table of 1794 (see L. Boynton, ed., Gillow Furiture Designs 1760-1800, Hertfordshire, 1995, pl.24 and 41). A pedestal desk of a related model was supplied by the firm to Sir Walter Scott for his house on Castle Street in Edinburgh. It appears in a drawing dated 1832 of Scott's study at Abbotsford where it remains (see C. Wainwright, The Romantic Interior, 1989, p.195, pl.162).

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