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Lot Essay
The unusual table base is virtually identical to a documented example supplied by London cabinet-maker William Masters to the 2nd Duke of Atholl for Atholl House (now Blair Castle), Perthshire in 1755 (reproduced here and illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, New York, 1968, fig.398). To date, the Duke of Atholl is the only known client for this cabinet-maker, however the commission was a sizable one whereby Masters was principally responsible for refurbishing the State Rooms with production recorded from 1747-1760.
This table once formed part of the celebrated collection of James Thursby-Pelham, an acknowledged expert on early English furniture and English portraiture who formed his collection around the time of the First World War. The furniture was assembled under the guidance of prominent advisor R.W. Symonds. Many examples from his home at 55 Cadogan Gardens are published in the 1954 edition of The Dictionary of English Furniture including a George II library armchair now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (vol.I, p.265, fig.124), a George III oval-back armchair (vol.I, p.299, fig.233) and a William and Mary gilt-gesso torchere (vol. III, p. 148, fig. 9).
This table once formed part of the celebrated collection of James Thursby-Pelham, an acknowledged expert on early English furniture and English portraiture who formed his collection around the time of the First World War. The furniture was assembled under the guidance of prominent advisor R.W. Symonds. Many examples from his home at 55 Cadogan Gardens are published in the 1954 edition of The Dictionary of English Furniture including a George II library armchair now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (vol.I, p.265, fig.124), a George III oval-back armchair (vol.I, p.299, fig.233) and a William and Mary gilt-gesso torchere (vol. III, p. 148, fig. 9).