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Lot Essay
This games table bears the brand of the successful Oxford Street firm Miles & Edwards, recorded at 134 Oxford St from 1822-1844. The firm supplied furniture to Audley End, Essex, Burton Constable, Yorkshire, Hopetoun House, Scotland and Wynyard Park, Co. Durham. The latter was possibly their largest single commission, for Charles William Vane (1778-1854), 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, between c. 1829-1841. The firm adopted the practice of furniture numbering and the stamp on the present table may indicate its manufacture in the early 1830s. Another stamped example, a solid rosewood chiffonier from circa 1830, is stamped 4586 and is illustrated as pl. 34 in F. Mallet, 'Miles and Edwards of London,' Furniture History, 1970, pp. 73-80 pl. 34-37B. After 1844, the firm of Miles & Edwards was taken over by Charles Hindley.
The shallow-engraved black marble borders of this top appear to be 'Ashford marble', a type of limestone, which turns a deep glossy black when polished. The Ashford Marble Mill, in Derbyshire, specialized in etched and engraved decorative objects since its founding in 1748. In 1835, inlaid surfaces were introduced by William Adam of Matlock, who used both local and imported marbles. The works were under the patronage of the 6th Duke of Devonshire (d. 1858), and examples were exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The shallow-engraved black marble borders of this top appear to be 'Ashford marble', a type of limestone, which turns a deep glossy black when polished. The Ashford Marble Mill, in Derbyshire, specialized in etched and engraved decorative objects since its founding in 1748. In 1835, inlaid surfaces were introduced by William Adam of Matlock, who used both local and imported marbles. The works were under the patronage of the 6th Duke of Devonshire (d. 1858), and examples were exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851.