16TH CENTURY

Details

A FRENCH WALNUT DRAW-LEAF TABLE
16TH CENTURY
With triform supports carved as grotesque satyrs with wings, separated by arches with female terms within, below a profusely carved strap-work frieze and solid plank top, the plinth base with strapwork border
35 in. (89 cm.) high; 135 in. (343 cm.) fully extended; 77 in. (196 cm.) long with leaves in; 37 in. (94 cm.) deep

Provenance

The Forbes Family, Culloden House, Near Inverness, Scotland
'The Valuable Contents of Culloden House', sold by Messrs Fraser & Co., Inverness, 21 July 1897, Lot 408, on the untimely death of Duncan Forbes with no heirs and substantial death duties. The buyer was Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Moy Hall, Inverness who paid 393-15-0
Moy Hall, Inverness, sale of contents in 1940's. The buyer was Major James Caldwell.
Thence by descent

Culloden House is a fine Georgian mansion with sweeping exterior staircase, built in the 1770's -1780's but incorporating much of an earlier fortified house partly destroyed by fire in 1753. Bonnie Prince Charlie reputedly stayed at Culloden House on the eve of the Battle of Culloden which was fought on the open moor just to the South-East of the house in 1746

Moy Hall on Loch Moy, near Inverness has been the home of the Mackintosh clan chiefs since the 14th century

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. This lot will be removed to an off-site warehouse at the close of business on the day of sale - 2 weeks free storage

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Lot Essay

The influence for the design of this distinctive table can be traced to Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau ( 1510-1585 ) who published numerous books and engravings of Renaissance decoration including furniture, metalwork, ornament and architecture between 1560-1580 from his workshop in Orleans.
A table with very comparable triform supports (shown here) was published in Henry Shaw 'Specimens of Ancient Furniture', London, 1836, plate XXI and is still in situ in Longford Castle, Wiltshire, the family seat of the Earls of Radnor ( also published Country Life, 26 December 1931 ).
Simon Jervis 'Printed Furniture Designs before 1650', Furniture History Society, 1974, includes related designs by Du Cerceau and Vredeman de Vries as plates 77 and 330

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