.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This serving-table relates to an Egyptian sideboard pattern engraved in 1804 by George Smith, Upholsterer to George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, and published in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1808, pl. 92. Smith considered the style as 'Proper for Dining Rooms'.
The style was adopted by firms such as Gillows during the following decade. Designs for related tables appear in the firm's Estimate Sketch Books now in the Westminster City Archives, E.S. 2085 (September 1818) and E.S. 3019 (June 1821). The partially legible inscription on the underside is characteristic of Gillows, who allowed craftsmen to sign their work in pencil. The inscription may be that of John Battersby (fl.1809-39) who appears to have been an independent cabinet-maker in Lancaster, subcontracted by the firm (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 50).
An almost identical pair of serving-tables from Scutterskelfe Park, Yorkshire, was sold by Viscount Falkland, in these Rooms, 7 February 1991, lot 104.
The style was adopted by firms such as Gillows during the following decade. Designs for related tables appear in the firm's Estimate Sketch Books now in the Westminster City Archives, E.S. 2085 (September 1818) and E.S. 3019 (June 1821). The partially legible inscription on the underside is characteristic of Gillows, who allowed craftsmen to sign their work in pencil. The inscription may be that of John Battersby (fl.1809-39) who appears to have been an independent cabinet-maker in Lancaster, subcontracted by the firm (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, eds., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 50).
An almost identical pair of serving-tables from Scutterskelfe Park, Yorkshire, was sold by Viscount Falkland, in these Rooms, 7 February 1991, lot 104.