Lot Essay
The marble pier-slabs, with moulded edges and French-indented corners, correspond to 'marble tables' recorded at Erddig, Wales by 1726 (M. Waterson, Erddig, London, 1988, p. 20). Their boldly carved frames are enriched with acanthus-scrolls in the Louis XIV manner and accompanying the Venus scallop-shell badges, displayed on the serpentined apron, there are nymph-masks with scalloped and Indian-plumed head-dresses emerging from the rounded legs. The latter terminate in acanthus-wrapped volutes like those of the Erddig drawing room pier-table, which has recently been attributed to John Belchier (d.1753), cabinet-maker of 'The Sun', St Paul's Churchyard (R. Edwards, Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1977, p. 583)
At first Sir Philip placed these tables in the window piers of the Saloon at Trent under the lacquer hanging cabinets from Raynham.
He later moved the Raynham cabinets to the newly created Inner Hall where they flanked the new door to the Blue Room, and placed these tables at the foot of the main staircase, where they can be seen in the Antique Collector article of 1938
At first Sir Philip placed these tables in the window piers of the Saloon at Trent under the lacquer hanging cabinets from Raynham.
He later moved the Raynham cabinets to the newly created Inner Hall where they flanked the new door to the Blue Room, and placed these tables at the foot of the main staircase, where they can be seen in the Antique Collector article of 1938