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Lot Essay
The precise dating of this dining table is possible due to the few years in which Edward Argles owned Thomas Butler's business. Thomas Butler (a. 1787-1814) initially entered into partnership with Edward Johnson at 14 Catherine Street circa 1784. By March 1787 the partnership was disbanded and on 28 March that year Christie's sold the stock, noting in the catalogue that THE BUSINESS will be carried on for the future by Mr. BUTLER in Catherine Street.
The business evidently flourished expanding into 13 Catherine Street and by the turn of the nineteenth century Butler was claiming royal patronage. In 1810 Butler sold the business to Edward Argles and made his second attempt at retiring but when Argles went bankrupt in 1813 Butler again opened up business. By 1816 he had ceased business altogether and two former employees, Thomas Morgan and Joseph Sanders, had occupied his old premises.
Interestingly, Thomas Butler never took patents of his own and appears to have exploited those granted to Thomas Waldron of 11 Catherine Street, despite mounting beds, tables and chairs with brass plaques in the fashion often adopted for patented furniture. A very similar dining table is illustrated in C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p.131, figs. 179-180.
The business evidently flourished expanding into 13 Catherine Street and by the turn of the nineteenth century Butler was claiming royal patronage. In 1810 Butler sold the business to Edward Argles and made his second attempt at retiring but when Argles went bankrupt in 1813 Butler again opened up business. By 1816 he had ceased business altogether and two former employees, Thomas Morgan and Joseph Sanders, had occupied his old premises.
Interestingly, Thomas Butler never took patents of his own and appears to have exploited those granted to Thomas Waldron of 11 Catherine Street, despite mounting beds, tables and chairs with brass plaques in the fashion often adopted for patented furniture. A very similar dining table is illustrated in C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p.131, figs. 179-180.