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Lot Essay
Although the provenance of this table has not been discovered, the use of a fine Italian specimen marble and hardstone top in combination with a superb quality English base suggests not only that the table was originally conceived to furnish a fashionable interior, but also that the top may have been acquired on the Grand Tour, with the base subsequently being commissioned from a prominent maker on its arrival in England. By the opening decades of the 19th century, the Grand Tour was considered a vital part of the education of any young Englishman of position (as well as that of those who wished to attain it), and the purchase of works of art (such as this table top) not only as souvenirs, but as means of illustrating their sophistication and taste acquired was an essential component.
The distinctive design of the base is conceived in the Grecian manner popularised by celebrated designers such as Thomas Hope and George Smith. This mode of decoration became a vital part of the fashionable interior reaching its zenith during the Regency and reign of George IV. It was used to great effect by leading cabinet-makers such as Gillows of Lancaster and London and William Trotter of Edinburgh. Trotter is, perhaps, one candidate for the authorship of this table. He produced related furniture, predominantly in rosewood, for the Library and picture gallery at Paxton House, Berwickshire and a favourable comparison can be drawn between the scrolls to the base of this table and those he employed the base of the rosewood sofa table for Penicuik House, Midlothian (F. Bamford, A Dictionary of Edinburgh Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1983, pl. 75 A.).
The distinctive design of the base is conceived in the Grecian manner popularised by celebrated designers such as Thomas Hope and George Smith. This mode of decoration became a vital part of the fashionable interior reaching its zenith during the Regency and reign of George IV. It was used to great effect by leading cabinet-makers such as Gillows of Lancaster and London and William Trotter of Edinburgh. Trotter is, perhaps, one candidate for the authorship of this table. He produced related furniture, predominantly in rosewood, for the Library and picture gallery at Paxton House, Berwickshire and a favourable comparison can be drawn between the scrolls to the base of this table and those he employed the base of the rosewood sofa table for Penicuik House, Midlothian (F. Bamford, A Dictionary of Edinburgh Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1983, pl. 75 A.).