A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARCHITECT'S DESK,

ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1775-80,

細節

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARCHITECT'S DESK,
Attributed to Gillows, circa 1775-80,
The double-ratcheted top above a secretaire drawer with green felt writing slide and ratcheted reading surface enclosing a fitted well, above an arched kneehole with door, flanked by three drawers, brass carrying handles to each side and the reverse with simulated drawer fronts, the replaced lock to the secretaire drawer stamped with a crown above VR/PATENT/4/LEVER, on wooden casters, two casters missing
37½in. (95cm.) high, 50in. (127.5cm.) wide, 27¾in. (70.5cm.) deep

拍品專文

This desk 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 Furniture Designs 1760-1800, Hertfordshire, 1995, pl.24 and 41). A pattern for a very similar desk with a rising ratchet-support features in the firm's 1798 Estimate Sketch Book (p.1481) preserved in the Westminster City Library. A desk of this model was sold at Christie's London, 14 November 1996, lot 17 (£11,500), whilst a similar one 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).