Lot Essay
In 1788 Gillows designed a vase and pedestal for John Christian of Workington Hall, Cumberland, no. 8012, illustrated in their Estimate Sketch Book, with three drawers enclosed by an oval panelled door, with a reeded frieze above and surmounted by a vase. The design is similar to the above lot, in which one pedestal has a drawer above a cellaret. Prior to this, in 1796, Gillows designed a 'vause [sic] knife-case', which has a similar thyrsus final, with a concave sloping lid and frieze, above a tapering base wrapped with serrated leaves, illustrated in L. Boynton (ed.), Gillow Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Royston, 1995, figs. 188, 192, and p.173. The present lot differs in the shape of the urn lid, which inverts the carved leaf pattern, the swagged frieze, and the lack of guilloche carving on the socle.
A similar pair of urns and pedestals with giltwood finials and attributed to Gillows, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 7 July 1995, lot 103.
A similar pair of urns and pedestals with giltwood finials and attributed to Gillows, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 7 July 1995, lot 103.