FIRST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Details

A GEORGE I GILT-GESSO PIER TABLE
FIRST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Carved overall wtih scrolling foliage, the rectangular top with a geometric design of flowers, foliage and strapwork, above a shell and acanthus-carved ogee-moulded frieze and shaped apron, on cabriole legs with scrolled feet, later blocks, regilt and some regessoing
28¼ in. (72 cm.) high; 36¼ in. (92 cm.) wide; 21 in. (53.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

H. R. H. The Duchess of Kent; Christie's London [Derby House, Stratford Place, W1], 12-14 March 1947, lot 358.
Francis Egerton, Esq., 12 Alexander Square, London, SW3.

Literature

'No. 12 Alexander Square, London, S.W.3: The Residence of Mr. F. L. Egerton', The Antique Collector, July-August, 1950, p. 136.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The table is embellished in bas-relief in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' manner popularised around 1700 by the published Oeuvre of William III's Paris-trained architect, Daniel Marot (d. 1752). Roman foliage wraps its ogival-scrolled frieze, where the nature-deity's 'shell' badge is triumphally wreathed by palms. The foliage that is ribbon-tied on its top, in Roman mosaiced compartments, issues fruit and flowers emblematic of Peace and Plenty.
Similar shells feature on a pier table supplied en suite with a pier glass for Erddig, Wrexham, North Wales around 1720, that has been attributed to the St. Paul's Churchyard cabinet-maker, John Belchier (J. Cragg, 'The re-arrangement of room furnishings at Erddig', Apollo, April 2002, pp. 38 and 40 and M. Drury, 'Early Eighteenth-Century Furniture at Erddig', Apollo, July 1978, fig. 9).

A George II giltwood pier mirror, a wedding present to H.R.H. the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece, is included in this sale as lot 62.

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